Childhood hero's who did you grow up to be most like?

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All of us had a childhood hero or two, usually some TV character we wanted to grow up to be. Then as we grew older we began to associate how we felt to other TV characters, how much we thought we were like them. I think Mr. Spock from the original Star Trek was the one character I felt closest to when I was younger. He was super smart, great at math and science and the science officer aboard the greatest space ship ever built. Hey I was great at both math and science so I had two out of three right?

So we leave school and go out into the work force. For many of us our dreams gave way to reality of keeping a roof over our head and food on the table, but we still had that dream of who we wanted to be like and we find ourselves in some small part acting as close to that hero as we can. I had a need to be as knowledgeable as possible so I read and I read, I even read the encyclopedia from cover to cover trying to learn as much as I could. I gained a few nicknames in the process even smiled to myself when one day someone asked if I was a Vulcan, although most the names I was called were not so polite. Then one day when our children have grown and have children of their own we look back on our lives. Look at what we wanted and at what we actually became.

Of course looking back I was nothing like Mr. Spock. I had always been quick tempered, where he was always cool no matter how bad the situation. He was always logical, while I used logic I was strong willed and stubborn. I was a real wizkid with machinery, I listened to the experts as to why something would not work then would go out and make it work just to prove them wrong. I was also very fast when working with my hands and many time thought so far outside the box I never realized there was a box to begin with. All things Mr. Spock would never do.
When assigned tasks I never estimated the time to complete the task according to my abilities and speed, I always estimated the time by what I thought others that I worked with could get it done in. Thus I always completed the task well under the estimated time. When others said something we needed was impossible with what we had available the boss would always assign it to me and I always managed to get the item working or create some off the wall, outside the box work around just in the nick of time saving the day.

Looking back on this I was trying to be the wrong Star Trek characters. I should have been watching Mr. Scott more closely!

So who did you grow up to be?

Comments

where to start...

MadTech01's picture

Being born in the early 80's, that is hard.
Power Rangers are in there
G.I. Joes
Capitan Planet
RoboCop
So many lol

Today when someone asks a hard commitment on a I can have it done I normally can not answer, they always want a hard commitment to the best case, and never want to hear the worst case answer.

When I began reading repair contracts on things though there is basically mentioned a possible best case, the average, and the worst case, in the contract. And the only commitment they will give is at least the hard commitment is the worst case, Kind of funny. Everyone wants the best case, and never wants the worst case. Sadly I am seeing ore and more on fixing things, the brown stuff hits the rotating air circulation device far to often these days.

as a kid you always like seeing the hero pull of the impossible win, and beating the bad guy.

But today I don't really like fictional heroes to idolize. I prefer real people alive and those of the past. They are not perfect, they have real faults and are not saints, and pull off some amazing things.
Theodore Rosevelt "Speak softly but cary a big stick...";
Franklin D Rosevelt "We have nothing to fear but fear its self...";
John F Kennedy "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your county...";
Neil Armstrong "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind...";
Ronald Regan "I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life.";
George H.W. Bush "I'm conservative, but I'm not a nut about it.";
Bob Dole, John McCaine, Colin Powell, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Sam Houston, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc... The list goes on.
But as you move forward closer to today that list of those now that list gets real small. Sadly as the greatest generation is leaving us the patients seem to be running the asylum, maybe we can get back to reality.

"Cortana is watching you!"

Conservative

mountaindrake's picture

Being conservative dose not mean intolerance many are more tolerant of differences than liberals. It means not wasting resources of any type if it can be avoided and holding some back for a rainy day. Have a good day and enjoy life.

Have a good day and enjoy life.

We can agree to disagree

MadTech01's picture

I have seen intolerance from both Liberals and conservatives, once you start looking at the extremes of both movements that is.
They both are in fact not what they claim to be and if you really look into them you can find the truth, of what they really stand for.

People who claim to be Liberal and Riot at Universities to stop those they disagree with are bigots and intolerant fools. They do not even know what the word liberal means.

Conservatives are a little different, there are too types because in reality they do not work together, they contradict each other.
Financial Conservatives push for responsible spending and also fair taxation.
Religious Conservatives push to stop the change in culture that are happening weather they can tolerate it or not.

Most often people are 1 and claim to be both. The catch is all those social/religions conservative things cost the most money and do not generate a return on the investment ever. I could go into a long spiel of data collected over decades to prove this point but I will not in this forum. If you want to get into a debate PM me.

"Cortana is watching you!"

Con/Lib

Sadarsa's picture

Conservitive...Liberal.... which am i? Dont know, Dont care... i just do what i feel is right, 1/4 the time it's something the left cooked up, 1/4 the time it's something the right did. 1/2 the time their both wrong and im left shaking my head at people who are supposed to be smarter than me.

~Your only Limitation is your Imagination~

Con/Lib

I am conservative on some things, liberal on others. I take those silly online "where are you politically" tests and hit almost dead center.

I've been called...

A right wing leftist... Does that count :b

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Normally those only 1 or the other

MadTech01's picture

If you look at those completely to the left or right, they contradict them selves on many things.
I consider them Mindless Brainwashed sheep, that will follow anyone who claims to know the answer.

Those College students that start riots protesting a speaker coming to the college are just fools, if you do not want to listen to what someone has to say don't, but do not block those who do. Once you start denying the rights of others you loose all morale high ground.
When those college students say they want a safe space, they are delusional, safe places do not exist. The world is a cold, hard, and unforgiving place. I feel most of these kids were to insulated from reality, and want to stay insulated from other ideas as they get older.

I mean when realtors are advertising come to a safe conservative or Liberal place, because you can not stand being exposed to those with which you disagree, come to us we will help you separate your self from them.

Ignorance is only bliss to reality slaps you upside the head, then you just get angry and hostile.
I shake my head at how the center is being dissolved by the far left and far right.
Once you take away the people who understand that to get things done you have to give and take, things stop working.

"Cortana is watching you!"

My health kept me out of the

My health kept me out of the military even when they would take just about anyone who was willing. So no G.I.Joe, Rambo, and a slew of other militaristic secret agency work was out.

I was too poor to go beyond community college and could never afford to pay for driving lessons so there was no shot of being like Speed Racer.

I couldn't throw a ball more than a few feet without using an underhanded throw and my right arm was all but useless making my swings and blocking horrible so I couldn't be like the Pro Stars.

I guess that only left me with being fat, lazy, cranky, sarcastic- I grew up to be Garfield.

I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime

Garfield

mountaindrake's picture

Garfield is fun and smart and sly. That's why I keep a shot fun in my kitchen lasagna should only be eaten when done cooking the him and the rest of the scarfers can have some, my lasagna pan is 24''x 18''x 4'' have 2 of them so there is plenty to go around. Have a good day and enjoy life.

Have a good day and enjoy life.

I would had thought this

I would had thought this answer even if she was still alive, but her recent death made me want and need to say it. My mom is my childhood hero I wanted to be like. Even when I was in denial of my where I was on the gender spectrum, I wanted to be like her. Her personality was just amazing.

How laid back she tried to be for she had a fire inside her which she knew should only come out at the right time. How she knew when was the right time to make the group, others or herself as the highest priority. How she would defend others before herself. I mean it would take more for her to defend herself than others. She was strong and could take so much.Lastly how she could differentiate between a person and their action. She could still care for people she did not want to associate with, for even their actions being wrong she still wanted to treat them with respect.

It was also how inviting she was with others. She wanted to make sure people felt included and part of the group. She wanted to give people the chance to shine. She wanted to uplift people all the time. She taught me many important lessons and one of the biggest is if you put others down, you are really just trying to lift yourself up to feel better about yourself. Another was just be there for others when they need you, just listen and they will usually figure it out themselves. Then again that was from her being stubborn and she knew people almost always never take advice.

I hope I am not making my mom sound to be saint, she was not she was human.She just strive to be the best she could be. The most ironic thing is her favorite saint was Saint Francis of Assisi. Right after saying that it might not had be as ironic for she wanted to find the peace he had.

Sorry added this after I posted. The biggest lesson she taught me was actions have consequences. If she never taught me that as well as she did, then I would had never written my first story which I posted on here.

Most people seem to answer

Most people seem to answer who the would like to have been like more that who they grew up to be like.

The answer a boy version of me would have given was probably my father or Niel Armstrong... but I was always drawn to Stevie Nicks and Susan Lucci for reasons that I didn't understand at the time.

I'm utterly unsure who I ended up like... and don't even like to think about it. It would have to be someone male with a very big secret that I'm still frightened of revealing. With a foot in two world's, I THINK if reached a truce between two sides of myself that I love equally. Sigh... I don't have such a hero in mind.

I cant think of any character

who is like me. Maybe the Bionic Woman - wounded and torn into pieces, then reassembled into someone stronger.

DogSig.png

Gilligan!

I loved Gilligan. Always happy with what life dealt. Always willing to help. Never letting depression take ho;d of his life. He never stayed upset or angry. When life dealt him lemons he made lemonade.

I'm recently retired and looking back I think I've lived as a real life Gilligan.

Boys will be girls... if they're lucky!

Jennifer Sue

The Character I Most Identified With

Was Maynard G Krebs. * Maynard G. Krebs is the "beatnik" sidekick of the title character in the U.S. television sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which aired on CBS from 1959 to 1963.* (from Wikipedia) He was played by Bob Denver, who also played Gilligan.

Somehow, I always knew I was a nonconformist and I am to this day. This must have something to do with my Asperger's; I really couldn't be like other people because I couldn't figure them out so didn't know what to do or how to act.

I also had low self esteem from my Dad always screaming at me and complaining about my attitude, more about me not knowing how to act or even what expressions to have on my face. My dad had low tolerance for any misbehavior on my part cuz I was caught xdressing in my girl-friend's back yard when I was 4, then telling my parents I was a girl. He wanted to whip me into shape and make sure my behavior didn't deviate any more.

Maynard's character was very humble and bumbling, but well liked by the charismatic Dobie Gillis. I knew I was odd, but wanted to be liked. My best friend at the time identified with Dobie Gillis and agreed that I was like Maynard. I thought that was high praise.

Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee

Uuuhmm -

Growing up I never got to see a television until I was sent to Borstal in 1958 aged 12. Even then the wardens controlled what we watched and I can assure everybody, I never, never got to see anything I liked or wanted. Childhood heroes have I none!

bev_1.jpg

Uuuhmm -

Growing up I never got to see a television until I was sent to Borstal in 1958 aged 12. Even then the wardens controlled what we watched and I can assure everybody, I never, never got to see anything I liked or wanted. Childhood heroes have I none!

bev_1.jpg