Tradespeople are heroes too. Don’t believe me? What about the last time a plumber showed up to unplug your toilet one hour before that big party you’d been planning for weeks? Come on: You felt like carrying that guy around on your shoulders didn’t you?
Why? Because he saved the day! Superheroes do that. Green Lantern does that.
Green Lantern is a character from DC comics. Each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants them a variety of powers. The ring’s abilities have two consistent traits: It grants the power of flight and its effects are accompanied by a green light. The signature power of all Green Lanterns is the ability to conjure “constructs:” solid green objects that the Green Lantern can control telekinetically. These can be anything, such as a disembodied fist to beat a foe, a shield to block an attack, a sword to cut a rope, or chains to bind a prisoner.
Fans of this superhero know well his famous oath:
In brightest day
and blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evils might,
beware my power:
Green Lanterns light!
Now, you’re probably wondering what’s up with the plumbing reference at the beginning of this post. Well, it has to do with where I work and something I saw recently that resembled this shape:
Symbol, or signature shape, of the Lantern and power ring
This is a pretty distinctive shape used to identify the Green Lantern Corps. While working with a plumber in the building that I manage, we had to turn off the water to the entire building (which I guess makes us the villains of this whole thing). The shut-off valve was right next to what I now affectionately call Green Lantern’s Coupling:
Look familiar?
Come on, it’s even green! I’ve worked at my present job for almost two years and have been in this room dozens of times, but never made the connection between the shape of this coupling and the famous lantern of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern!
From now on, whenever I need energy to complete my day, or power to fix yet another water leak, I’ll come to the Green Lantern Coupling and chant the famous words:
In yellowest day
and brownest night,
No leak shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship pressures might,
beware my power:
Green Lanterns coupling!
