If you were a superhero, what would your power be? Why?

Starting the new year with something on the fantastical side turned out to produce both sincere and entertaining responses. Enjoy the replies as you imagine how satisfying it would be to, just for a moment, have a truly useful, super power.

In this column, adopted from the familiar “Heard on the Street” format, we offer our responders a chance to answer the question posed in the title. These are their replies reported verbatim.

 

IT’S A BIRD! IT’S A PLANE! IT’S SUPER-YOU!

My Super Power would be to see the future. I’d never miss a forecast, always buy my supply at the right moment and be out in front of any logistical challenges before they happen. Actually, isn’t that what we all attempt to do daily, weekly, monthly, annually anyway in this industry? Until this super power comes to fruition, I’ll stick with doing my best to anticipate and control the things I can and adapting to the things I cannot.

Boyd H. McGathey

Energy Distribution Partners

Parkville, Missouri

 

I am loving this question and find it difficult to choose. When I think about my life and what would be most beneficial to me and those who count on me, I’ve decided that teleportation would be my super power. Being able to travel from one location to the next without distance and time constraints, for business meetings and events, then back home for soccer games and dance recitals, then out for a business dinner and home to tuck my people in, then back for after dinner conversations.

 Lauren Clark

Bergquist Inc.

Toledo, Ohio

 

If I may be a bit selfish on this one, I would like to be a super Hero with binocular-like eyesight. I would like to be able to see things coming for miles! I have had low vision since birth and would love to see what people with normal vision see. If I could go beyond to Super Hero sight – perfect!! Of course, if those eyes were set in a tall attractive blond body that would work too!!

Judy Taranovich

Proctor Gas

Proctor, Vermont

 

If I were a superhero, I would want the power to fly. This would be extremely useful from a business perspective. I travel quite a bit but hate dealing with airports. I could wake up in the morning, walk outside to my back porch, and take off to visit customers in California for lunch. Then fly back to Texas for happy hour with customers in Houston. I’d never have to pay for airfare and never miss an industry outing. It would be great for business.

Thomas McSween

Valero

San Antonio, Texas

 

That’s an easy one. I would have the power to erase pain. There’s not a day goes by where you hear or see someone going through hard times; wouldn’t it be a wonderful power to remove the pain and replace it with peace?

Hayley Karicofe

AmeriGas

Churchville, Virginia

 

I would like to have the superhero power to protect all children from any issues that would impact their health and happiness so that they could grow up feeling safe, loved, and protected. Hopefully, they would then have the ability to get along with each other and be able to work together for a brighter future and more unified country as adults – something that is sadly lacking these days.

Rosie Buschur

McMahan’s Bottle Gas

Dayton, Ohio

 

There are so many different superhero powers we would all like to possess for a variety of good reasons. Ideally, I’d like to combine 3: Super Strength, Super Speed, and Flight. I think with those attributes, I could make myself into a viable candidate for the National Football League and be well paid.

In reality the superhero power I wish I had the ability to use, is the power to Heal. I cannot think of any other power better than the ability to heal another human being. Not sure if my vision of a special power would get me into a Marvel Comic Book, but I sure could do a lot of good for all.

Jerry Schimmel

P3 Propane Safety

 Cumberland, Rhode Island

 

My Superpower would be mind manipulation. I would prevent people from behaviors such as assuming, taking-for-granted and overall lack of common sense.

Julie Johnson

Ted Johnson Propane

 Baldwin Park, California

 

I would want the power of ‘healing’. (I actually had to google super powers as I’m not very versed in them!). I’m not sure super powers typically can help others, but since we are in a fantasy world on this anyway, I’d want my super power to heal other people, not just myself! With the devastating ‘C’s’ of the world today (Cancer and Covid) I’m longing for the world and people in it to be healthy and happy and I’d want to use my superpower to help with that!

Susan Peterson

Rural Computer Consultants

Bird Island, Minnesota

 

If I were a super hero my power would be the ability to organize anything into a spreadsheet, and my kryptonite would be the phrase “I don’t know why we do it that way, it’s just how we’ve always done it”!

Jason Soulon

Westmor Industries

Shawnee, Kansas

 

I am a die-hard Marvel Comics fan. I collected around 15 titles a month when I was a teenager, and they are all still sitting in my basement. Spiderman was my favourite, but I don’t think I would choose web slinging as my power. I think I would have to go with Black Bolt, the leader of the Inhumans. His power was his voice, which manufactured massive disturbances in the form of highly destructive shockwaves capable of leveling a city. Of course, this meant he could never actually talk…a bit of a downside. But hey, with this power, when I opened my mouth, people would really pay attention!

Leslie Woodward

Fairview Fittings

Oakville, Ontario, CANADA

 

POWER IS IN THE IMAGINATION OF THE BEHOLDER

Mind control, teleportation, X-ray or even excellent vision, precognition, flight, and a healing factor are some of the powers most desired by our colleagues. Just for fun, let’s consider how you may use any of these super powers in your daily life:

• Clairvoyance (Would you use this power judiciously and share it with the world or keep it to yourself?)
• Time travel (Would Doc Brown’s invention built from a DeLorean sports car come in handy in your busy life?)
• Immortality (The possibilities seem unlimited!)
• Invisibility (Is this truly a useful power? In what circumstances?)
• Telepathy (Are your brain’s neurotransmitters communicating to others’?)
• Superhuman strength (In the Marvel universe, a strength scale is applied based on the number of tons a character can lift over his or her head, from 1 to 100. Can you feature tossing a bobtail across the yard?)

 

Nancy Coop, Cetane Associates

 

This column was first published in Butane-Propane News in January 2022.