Dear LPG, 

I watched an old Superman film the other day and it brought back a memory or two.  A few days later I was inspired to do a little survey.  The study group was my three closest friends and me.  There was only one superman-inspired question involved, but the results were interesting. 

MY question was, ‘If you could have a superpower what would it be’? and it did not take us long to work out that just one superpower would not be enough and, in fairy tales you always get three wishes, so we broadened that horizon pretty quickly.

We found a list on the internet and decided that a few of them were just too far-fetched, but there were still quite a few to choose from.  It was interesting to note that we all decided that we would leave out being able to control the entire world, so that quickly got struck off the agenda.

I have to say the survey was more of a discussion and looked at an online list before we started.  We decided that super-health and strength would be at the top of our lists, but that was where the consensus ended.  

The first 25% of my sample group, (male, lives alone, mid 80s, large family, enjoys holidays) chose super speed and flight.  He thought it would be really good to be able to nip here and there at a moment’s notice to see the members of his family who now live all over the world.  But he added that, although he loves them all and would appreciate being able to see them more often, there is nothing like getting tucked up in your own bed each night.

The second 25% (female, lives with her son and family, late 70s, enjoys her grandchildren) thought that it would be good to have the power of telepathy.  There are so many things that, with the benefit of her hindsight, she would be able to help her grandchildren with by transferring a few mental drops of advanced wisdom here and there, she also thought they could do with the answers she could provide when it comes to mental arithmetic, and it would be wonderful to understand and help with the many petty squabbles that the young ones have.  She also thought the ability to shapeshift (disguise herself as a fly on the wall or an ornament on the sideboard) would come in useful from time to time… 

The third quarter of my sample group (male, married, early 80s, own home, family, enjoys world conservation) thought that he could use the power of Precognition and Tactile Telekinesis best.  He told us that with a knowledge of what the natural world’s future looked like, he would be able to get around it and right some of the wrongs that are happening, although he thought he would need a bit of super speed as well. 

Me (female, lives with family, early 70s, never able to fit everything I want to enjoy into my lifestyle); I would choose super-speed and teleportation.  I think life would be perfect if I could get to where I want without the traveling time, and being able to do things in a fraction of the time would suit me so well.

I think that we all can agree that the demographic of my survey group was lacking somewhat, but it was interesting to note that truth and immortality never came anywhere near the top of our list, but perhaps that was because we limited the number of powers we could have.

It got me thinking though, what would be at the top of your list?

IH, Avery Hill

IH shares the list of 48 superpowers that her friends were choosing from…

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