Superpowers

As a child, we all hope to be blessed with some superpower we can use to help other people, defend ourselves or use to our own advantage.  For myself, I had always wished I could move stuff with my mind.  As I got older it manifested itself a kind of road rage tool where I wished I could “pop” the tires of the person that just cut me off!  But, as we grow older we soon realize that having a power is not realistic.  We do slowly become aware of things we are better at.  More often or not what we are best at really doesn’t have applications to our career.

Last week, on a flight from Denver to Los Angeles, my superpower became noticeable.  I have always realized that my level of observation was above most people’s, but it wasn’t until that flight that I realized how I have developed it over the last 10-20 years.  What I mean by that is I am very observant and a great predictor of human behavior (of course this all my own opinion).

First, I notice a woman with long black hair in the window seat three seats to my right having trouble turning on the light.  She actually was confused and didn’t realize the controls were on the arm rest.  She eventually gave up.  I figured she was too far away to say anything to her so I kept quiet and made  a mental note.

Next, I watched as a young college-aged couple sit in front of me.  They were in the process of settling in when they realized their “carry-on” needed to be stowed above. So as the young man opened the already closed overhead compartments I saw that the compartment directly two rows up and to my right had just enough space. Unfortunately he didn’t see what I saw and moved on down the plane looking for space.  I sat quietly and made a mental note.

As we began our taxiing procedures and the attendant went through the “drill” and despite announcement to turn off electronic equipment, I noticed the girl to my left texting and putting her phone underneath her left thigh so she could feel the vibration of the phone when she received her reply. I noticed the young couple in front listening to their iPod with black ear phones (one in hers, one in hers) and their heads together so the attendant couldn’t see the cords.  With in seconds another attendant came down the aisle with a travel’s bag looking for more storage space.

At that same moment, the girl with the back hair three seats down reached again for the light and that’s when it hit me.  I leaned over and told the girl the controls are in the arm of the chair. I popped my head out into the aisle and told the attendant that there was space two compartments up. I leaned to my left, made some snippy comment, and in a nutshell told the girl to shut the phone off.  I did not say anything to the couple ahead of me but as you can imagine, I wanted to.

There it is.  My superpower. As simple as it may seem, for the rest of the flight I sat and recounted many instances where this ability has come in handy.  Whether it is looking for something that is lost or remembering where something was placed three years ago.  My aptitude for observation and prediction of human behavior seems to be high. The question now is: How can I use it succeed in business? In this class? In life?