Everyday heroes

One of my Father's Day gifts last weekend was a date with my wife. That was a wonderful surprise! We went to see the new X-men movie and it was jam-packed with dozens and dozens of mutants with special powers. I realized that there must be many of these "level 1" mutants all around me, with subtle yet real abilities.

Here are a couple I've thought of so far. Feel free to let me know about others you've observed!

Ultra finger man

Every night when I leave my office, I get on the 8th floor elevator to go down to the lobby level and leave the building. I push the button for "1", the doors close, and usually someone else gets on around floor 5 or 6, which are busy office floors. Inevitably a man will get on the elevator, look at the buttons, see that the "1" is already lit up... and push it anyway. For years I have wondered: what are these people doing?

Now I know -- they're mutants. This is their special power. And a mighty impressive skill it is, I must say.

Future-view pilot

Houston is known for its traffic, so after years of daily commutes I consider myself somewhat of an expert on the subject. And in any slow traffic jam, there's at least one person constantly weaving from lane to lane, trying to get an edge on everyone else.

I'm convinced that these drivers have the ability to see into the future, albeit in a nearsighted fashion. One minute they're positive that the left lane is best... but then the future vision changes and they must move over two lanes to the right. Maybe they can only see the most probable future at any moment, and the constant shifts in traffic flow change the scenario of the most likely future.

What mutants do you see around you every day?