Superhero

I always liked Batman better than Superman (not least because Superman was stuck on the irksome Lois Lane--how could someone so clueless that a mere pair of glasses would form an adequate disguise actually be a reporter? Please. Give me Rosalind Russell as Hildy Johnson in His Girl Friday any day). Superman had super powers, but Batman was just a regular guy who decided to do the right thing using the tools at his disposal.

And when a regular guy with no tools at his disposal risks his own life to do something heroic, well, that's even more super in my book. Like this guy, Wesley Autrey, a construction worker on the subway platform with his two small kids:

Nearby, a man collapsed, his body convulsing. Mr. Autrey and two women rushed to help, he said. The man, Cameron Hollopeter, 20, managed to get up, but then stumbled to the platform edge and fell to the tracks, between the two rails.

The headlights of the No. 1 train appeared. “I had to make a split[-second] decision,” Mr. Autrey said.

So he made one, and leapt.

Read the whole story: if it were fiction, it would be predictable, right down to the (happy) ending. But the reason certain formulas become formulas in fiction is that they are satisfying.

They are more satisfying when they aren't made up. When there are regular people acting like superheroes. Thanks, Mr. Autrey, for saving that stranger's life. Thanks for making my day.

Update: Everyone is taking note of Mr. Autrey's heroism; he's a media celebrity. And he's even using that for good--here's what he said in closing a press conference:

“Maybe I was in the right place at the right time, and good things happen for good people,” Mr. Autrey said. Then he hopped into his brother-in-law’s tan Toyota Corolla. As the car pulled away, Mr. Autrey had some final words: “All New Yorkers! If you see somebody in distress, go for it!”

Hear, hear.