superman

in basketball, during a game’s dying seonds, with his team down by a point, michael jordan would always be counted on to deliver the winning basket for the chicago bulls. he was the man for the job. but what if during the game, he broke his finger and/or sprained his ankle badly? should he still be taking that shot? should he still be playing at all?

at work, there’s always that type of character who’s the prodigy. he’s the one who can do it all, he knows it all, and he finishes his tasks in excellent fashion. he can always be counted on to do a job correctly and efficiently. but just like everyone else, he’s just human. he gets sick. in times of sickness, would a good superior demand that this amazing employee still go to work so that he could do his tasks?

i suppose michael jordan shouldn’t take that winning shot with a broken finger and a sprained ankle… i suppose it would do more bad than good for a superior to force his star employee to work if that employee is down with the sickness.

should the chicago bulls take it against MJ that he broke his finger and sprained his ankle, which is why he couldn’t take that shot? should the superior take it against his employee for being sick?

does this mean that the bulls expect too much of MJ and they shouldn’t expect him to take a winning shot ever again? does this mean that the superior should consider his employee any less of an employee now that he can’t attend to his tasks because he’s sick?

we all surely have our interpretations for this, but my personal opinion is NO. as capable as MJ and that star employee are at what they were expected to do, they’re not superman. they get hurt. they get sick. and it doesn’t mean that they’re any less capable - or willing - to do what they do.

i believe there are all types of people around us who integrate into our lives in different ways. we have certain people for certain needs. if we’re down at a certain point in our lives, we have our "michael jordans" to put us over the hurdle. we have our "star employees" to help us through those trying times in our lives. but like i said, these people are not superman. and just because they get hurt and they get sick, it doesn’t mean that they are any less capable - or wiling - to do what is expected of them.

and we too may be MJ’s and star employees for other people. but are you superman?