Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Phone a Super Friend

I used to love the Super Friends on Saturday morning TV. In retrospect, I realize it was a bit cheesy, but it was good clean fun for kids in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

Back then, Saturday morning cartoons often tried to teach you something. I learned most of my American History and parts of speech thanks to School House Rock I also learned “Don’t Drown Your Food,” and “Exercise Your Choppers on Some Good Hard Food, " and I've been known to "Hanker for a Hunk of Cheese.”** From the Super Friends, I learned the importance of having a good support system and safety net in place. Everyone needs a Justice League, ready to spring into action, with each Super Friend providing vital assistance when needed with his or her special Super Power.

Think about it. In the Great Game Show of Life, are you going to use your Phone-A-Friend Lifeline to call the one who will murmur sympathetically and try to make you feel better even though you don’t know? No! You’re going to phone the friend who has the knowledge or expertise or connections necessary to solve the problem. (You can call the sympathetic one after it’s all over.)

I have a great Justice League. The Playfriends, of course, are the support of all things writing-related. Yes, they can be counted on for the “Atta Girls” or the “Chin Ups,” but they also know a heck of a lot. Have plot problems? Need to know whether trailers are foreclosed on or repossessed? Wonder if a sentence is making sense or how to format query letters in email messages? Playfriends to the rescue! (And Marilyn can find anything on the web within minutes!)

My Justice League also includes a registered nurse who can be counted on for knowing what kinds of injuries are most likely in motorcycle accidents and what the recuperation time will be. She’s also the one to call when AC spikes a temp with vomiting and I need to know if it warrants a trip to the ER. There’s Counselor Shelley, who pulls multiple duties—does free therapy (for both me and my characters), knows all things art-related, and has a lawyer hubby. I have a friend who has the whole hardware department of Home Depot in his garage and will deliver the necessary tool to the house (and show me how to use it). There’s the friend with the encyclopedic knowledge of TV and film. The friend with the pickup truck. The friend with the great discount at Comp USA. The friend who can go into my closet and come out with a perfect outfit—and then do my hair and makeup as well. The friend who wears the same size clothes and shoes and will let you borrow them. The friend who can pull esoteric trivia out of her ass on a moment’s notice.

All I really need is a friend who understands stocks and IRAs and planning for retirement and a friend who can fix plumbing. I’d be set then.

So what part do you play in the Justice League? I’d so love to be the Comeback Kid—you know, the one who always has the perfect retort for every occasion and could telepathically send it to you within a second or two. Sadly, it usually takes me a little while to come up with something more eloquent than “Bite Me,” and you could probably come up with that yourself.

I’m a pretty good “Pot-Stirring Girl,” meaning not only will I listen to you bitch, I’ll keep the ire boiling so you’ll be ready to tell that butthead to bite you. I’m good at being righteously indignant on your behalf.

I think, though, I’m stuck with being the Geeky Grammar Girl, decked out in glasses and a plaid cape (that went out of style years ago), ready to help you cast out the extraneous commas and explain passive voice (again). Armed with my Harbrace and handy thesaurus, I’m the bearer of doom for those who dare to dangle modifiers.

Sigh. That’s just not as cool as Wonder Woman, is it? It’s not even as cool as the Wonder Twins.

So, what’s your super power (honestly, now)? When your friends phone-a-friend for help, what super strength do you provide?

PC

* Click here to view these timeless classics

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh...I like this post a lot PC! Hmm. I can see where my friends fall but I'm not sure what kind of Super Friend I am. I think I'd have to check with one of my peeps. ;)

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

Hmm...I'd have to say pulling dumb trivia out of my @ss is my super power. Want the name of that guy that was on that show in the eighties with the girl who was married to that rock star? Yeah, I know. Want to know the name of the song (and the complete lyrics) that was done by that grunge band and performed on Leno? Yeah, I know that too. Whoop butt at trivial pursuit too. I would hit the game show circuit and make my fortune if I wasn't slow to respond and wouldn't hit the buzzer in time.

Lynn Raye Harris said...

ARGH! I don't know what my super power would be. I know a smattering of stuff. Maybe I'm the Lady Who Lunches Girl. ;) I'm good at lunch.

(I'm also pretty good at grammar, but that job's taken.) In my family, I'm the retirement/IRA/finance guru. Hubby calls me his Finance Minister (pronounced fee-NONCE). Even the inlaws will call to ask for advice from time to time.

With my friends, I think I may be the Common Sense Girl. It seems like I get used as a sounding board a lot. I'm pretty comfortable with giving my opinion, though I always tell them they need to do what they think is best for them. That way if I'm wrong, it's not my fault. Ha!

Anonymous said...

Gee... considering that I even had to help you with a Blogger problem while you were posting this... you'd figure "guy who can fix anything wrong with a computer or other technical gadget" might have at least had a mention!

Kira Sinclair - AKA Instigator said...

Eek. I'm not sure what my special power would be. Maybe hard ass girl (as in get your head out of the sand, this is the way it is, stop whining and do something as opposed to hard ass . We all know my ass is nowhere close to bouncing quarters these days). But maybe that's just the girl I'd like to think I am.

Instigator

Andrea Laurence AKA Smarty Pants said...

Speaking of Super Friends and dumb trivia...I hear they're planning a justice league movie, which is sort the 2007 version of Super Friends.

Playground Monitor said...

I'm "Google Girl." I can do a pretty mean job of researching online using that search engine. Oh, and I know all the good "hunk" websites. :grin:

I manage my own IRA, thank you, with the assistance of my Morgan Keegan guy, but my only advice to others is "Live below your means and save every dime you can."

We have a pick-up truck, by the way. And if the DH ever decides to put in the hot tub, I'll let y'all know and we can have December plotting sessions in it.

You know, it's really easy to see what super powers your friends have, but not easy to figure them out in yourself.

PM

Problem Child said...

DG--everyone already knows where my tech support comes from...

But, for family harmony..."Then there's DG--fixer of all technology problems, mower of grass, general sounding board, and remover of mice from traps."

Linda Winstead Jones said...

I suppose I'm Woowoo Woman. Not quite as catchy as Wonder Woman, and I do not have an invisible plane, but I suppose it will do.

A few years ago my nephews were calling me knowledge woman. Don't know the answer? Call Aunt Linda, she'll know.

LJ

Katherine Bone said...

Cool post, PC! Super Playfriends to the rescue!!! Look up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's the playfriends, they'll keep you from going insane!

I've always said that we have the cast of Gilligan's Island in our family. #1 & his DW are the Howells, #2 is Ginger, of course, #3 the Professor, #4 Mary Anne, DH is The Skipper and I'm Gilligan.

Don't really know what kind of SuperFriend I'd be. That's too high concept for me. LOL.

Kathy

Maven Linda said...

I don't know what I'd be. Logic girl? Boy, doesn't that sound catchy?

Friends and family call me whenever their child, or grandchild, or friend's child, needs help with homework. Will I ever get away from homework???? I was in a restaurant last week and a friend's daughter, who is in college, called to ask for help with an essay.

I guess that's what I am: Word Woman.

I also know a lot about dogs. Does that make me Dog Girl? Can I be two things? WordWoman/DogGirl?

Linda