Bosses, Take Note. Ask This Question at Interviews.
It Shocked Me in the Best Way.
Why did I add an image of a kid, you ask? This story has to do with kids, both young and old.
I was stunned. I couldn’t believe the words that came out of the interviewer’s mouth.
You’ve heard this question a hundred times before, but I bet you’ve never heard it in a job interview…
Who’s your favorite superhero and why?
What? I’ve NEVER in my years of interview experience been asked that question before. For crying out loud, that’s a dating app prompt.
The interviewer chuckled due to the stunned expression plastered on my face. I quickly fixed my face with a smile then addressed this moment with complete honesty:
I’ve never heard that question in a job interview before. That’s a new one. Thank you.
What was my answer? The ever-amazing, ever-loving Spider-Man.Why?
Besides the fact that this interview was for a kids’ after school program, I’m actually a fan of Spider-Man. No, it's not just because I love Tom Holland or that Spidey is from Queens (AKA, my motherland).
Spider-Man is a youthful spirit, but massively intelligent. In a way, he’s like Wendy from Peter Pan. Ready, and smart enough to be an adult, but won’t let go of the joy and childish wonderment within him.
Plus, he could help me get rid of my fear of heights, swinging from building to building with those webs. It’s brave.
Since then, I’ve narrowed down what superpower I would want to have. It’s not laser vision or superhuman strength or telepathy.
It’s one we’re all capable of. Love. The empathetic kind.
Let’s be real here. The world is full of people who would rather exact revenge on others than kill them with kindness.
There are people on this planet who would rather think solely about themselves but demand others think about them with the compassion they themselves don’t give.
There are those with malicious intentions and incapable of having an open mind, but expect everyone else to, especially when it comes to them and their woes.
These kinds of people expect respect without giving even an ounce of it.
The Love Superpower I’m imagining would help save people from themselves. It would sprinkle a dash of emotional understanding, regulation, and mental well-being.
This would create space for open eyes, minds, and hearts to connect. To talk to each other with respectful and mindful conversations.
How amazing would that be? To change the people of the world to one’s driven by open kindness?
We would all get what we endlessly desire: to be seen, heard, respected, accepted, and most of all, Loved.
The thing about Love is, it comes in all forms. There's no end to it, whereas hate, anger, and disrespect always seem to end up in the same dark place - the parts of ourselves we hate.
What if this Love Superpower had the ability to change those things? To bring them out of the darkness, thus being seen and accepted?
Imagine the beauty we’ll find in ourselves and in everything we set our sights and hearts upon. That seems like a bomb dot com superpower to me.
The bullies of the world would feel how much weight they were carrying on their shoulders, let it drop, and start to fly in the wind, lighter, and as I would guess, a wee bit healthier.
I think this is the part of the superpower I gave Bella in my children’s book, Bella the Buck-Toothed Ballerina. She radiates Love.
We need more of that in the world. We always have, and we always will. Like I said, there’s no end to it.
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