It is a question

that man has pondered for centuries: Which super power would you choose,

if you could choose one, and why? The debate has taken place at water

coolers, at lunch tables in cafeterias around the world, at sleepovers

and at parties where people play corny games. Today, I will offer my thoughts

on this query, going one by one down the list and figuring out the pros

and cons on both sides.

Superhuman

strength - Sure, it sounds great but wouldn't you have to be ginger doing

mundane tasks? What about trying to start your lawnmower with the pull

cord? You'd probably yank out the engine and throw it into the next zip

code. Opening a semi-frozen car door in the winter could lead to no door

if you're not careful. Aside from the "don't know you're own strength"

mistakes though, would superhuman strength come in handy enough to make

it useful?

You could help

clean up downed trees after storms and pull out cars that are stuck in

snow banks, but do you really want to have to move to a cold weather climate

to use your powers? You could swing around tanks and throw them all over

the place, or beat up hundreds of bad guys at once, but when will that

really come up?

So, no to superhuman

strength.

Power of flight

This one seems to be an obvious yes. You could fly all over the place,

even to outer space if you wanted to, without having to go through all

of those additional security measures. I mean, think of it, you could

take your own nail clippers on vacation with you and you wouldn't have

to keep buying some and leaving them in your rent-a-car. Heck, you'd never

need a car again. No more traffic jams, and it would probably be really

hard to get lost as you could just fly up higher to look for a familiar

landmark. It does get colder the higher you fly though, so you would need

more than Superman's tights to get you through. The question is how fast

would you be able to fly? This one is definitely a maybe.

Superhuman

speed You could run around the world, if you wanted to, but I think hitting

an object, any object, at superhuman speeds would do a lot of damage to

both you and the person or thing you hit. Think of the roadkill. You could

use the power for evil, by robbing a place without being spotted, but

that isn't the point of the column. I'd have to say no to superhuman speed.

Power of invisibility

I have always liked this one, partially because of the ability to sneak

into places and not be seen. That would technically be a crime though,

so I guess it is out. You could be useful as a spy, but it would probably

be kind of boring and just because you're invisible doesn't mean some

bad guy won't get lucky and shoot you. I guess this one is a no, too.

The ability

to communicate with sea creatures No.

Adamantium

claws springing from your fingers Sounds fun but what happens if you get

itchy at the wrong time. No.

Shooting webs

from your wrists that help you swing around town and trap bad guys I won't

lie, this has always been one of my favorites. Plus, it kind of gives

you the power of flight, but just locally. As long as you can trust the

webs to not break, I think this one is a definite possibility.

The power to

transform your size This one might be good. You could either become gigantic

or really, really small at your command. You could go anywhere and, as

a giant, would probably have the superhuman strength. Another maybe.

Superhuman

vision This would be handy on those searches for weapons of mass destruction,

but the temptation to look at undergarments and further may be too great

for many people out there, myself included. I'll pass.

The creation

of ice, water or fire Could be fun, but fire is not a toy and could get

out of hand quickly. So, no.

Now, for the

final decision: flight, webs or size changing. I'm going to have to go

with flight. I wouldn't have to pay outrageous airfare, wouldn't have

to worry about crashing and would have unlimited freedom to go wherever

and whenever.

What do you

think? Send in your name, age and answers and they may be used in an upcoming

column.

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