Kelly's World | Good guy’s burden

“It’s obviously a lot harder to try and be a good guy than it is to be a bad guy. The world is a fundamentally evil place, it seems like.” – actor Michael Shannon, who played General Zod in Man of Steel.

 

Let’s be honest about something, it’s hard being a good guy.

Imagine this scenario. A man who has no traffic tickets, waiting at a stoplight. To get to this point in his journey, he hasn’t disobeyed any of the traffic laws.

But when the light turns to green, he notices the two vehicles in front of him aren’t moving.

The driver at the front has decided that he’s going to use that moment to buy guineps (he had tons of time when the light was red).

The vehicle directly in-between that driver and our ‘good guy’ isn’t going around the stationary auto (guess he’s just patient).

So good guy, who, while he might not be in a hurry, would like to get a move on. So he checks his side mirrors before moving off, and then overtakes both men.

Now by the strict letter of the law, that was illegal. I mean, he did go around two cars.

Or do we consider it only one, considering the driver at the front had no timetable to move? The fact is, if any cops were around dog woulda probably nyam good guy’s supper.

But why should he have had to wait any longer, having been patient for his entire trip?

Plus, he’s dealing with an inconsiderate motorist who didn’t even have the decency to ‘wave him around’.

And that’s the reason why I say it’s hard to be a good guy. By some persons’ definition and belief, a good guy does the right and proper thing, without fail, every time.

So if the good guy happened to get a ticket that day, in the eyes of the law, he’d be looked at just like the ‘robot’ taxi man with a million tickets. Surely, that cannot be fair.

I’m not so sure about the good guy expectations anymore. Sometimes the hero doesn’t have to be this clean-cut persona, like Superman from the comics (or from the movie in which Shannon starred).

Sometimes the hero’s gotta be Batman, not afraid to kick some butt to get things done.

Don’t even get me started when it comes to relationships, especially in this day and age.

It feels like (and I stress ‘feels like’) the more of a buttu you are, the better.

Hold a door for some of these young women, you don’t get a thank you. Push past them, you’re a pig.

If you decide to stand in line at the tax office and wait your turn, rather than beg ‘a link’ to quicken the process, you’re seen as stupid.

Offer to buy a female patron a drink with zero intention of carrying things any further than that, you’re seen as a buffoon.

It’s a burden being a nice guy. But then if it’s not in you to be a ‘cruff’, what’s your alternative? Sigh.

- Link me at daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com.