Super Silly Us

By the good graces of Hollywood time travel rules, Captain America was able to fight against his younger self in the most recent Avengers film. Forgive me please if this turns out to be a spoiler for you, but since every other person on the planet has seen this film, you're outside the polite threshold for keeping every plot point of a piece of popular culture from your inquisitive gaze. Apologies aside, I found this moment to be quite meaningful for me as I have aged, along with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, nearly a decade since our first Cap sighting back in 2011. Since that time, I have reveled in the super-soldier's catchphrase, "I could do this all day," when he is backed into a corner and the odds are against him but he keeps getting back up. Which is why when, in the midst of tangling with his younger self, the elder winces when he hears his youthful doppelganger insist, "I could do this all day." To which the older, wiser, and somewhat burdened Cap sighs before replying, "Yeah. I know." This is how it feels to me, at fifty-seven years of age, after watching so many of my friends and associates succumb to the inevitable grind of being on the planet for nearly three score years. Things wear out, fall off, get replaced or left off for convenience's sake. And yet, somehow, we get back up and go at it again. One more time.
We don't try to force our way anymore. That doesn't work as well. Now we finesse events that used to require a more brutish response. There are now a few more tricks at our disposal, not the least of which is knowing what didn't work the first time through. Which is why, given a second shot at a bunch of bad guys in a crowded elevator, a more mature Captain America chooses to pretend that he's on the bad guys' team for just a few more floors rather than get his ribs jabbed with an electrode or his face bounced off any number of flat surfaces. Clever man.
I don't expect to be traveling into my own past or anyone else's anytime soon, but I am pleased and happy to believe that this lesson I have learned from watching comic book movies will have a payoff in my not-too-distant future. The importance of teamwork cannot be overstated here. Asking for help is key. Sure, sometimes I revel in feats of strength and daring just to see what I can still do, but more often than not I will happily take a seat and wait for someone else to take the other end of the couch. This doesn't make me a superhero, it makes me old. And wise.