'How to Be a Superhero' Video Shows Teens in Capes Giving Flowers to Elderly Woman, Paying for Others
Two 16-year-olds hitting the streets in tights and capes may sound like a prank or a bad joke, but their viral video makes a point – we can all save someone's day through acts of kindness.
"We all possess the power to do good. We can all make someone's day and be superheroes," Zade Abdullah, a high school student in Dixon, Ill., says as his friend Kyle Nutt gives flowers to elderly ladies in the hospital.
For the video, the two boys dressed up in capes and tights with a sign on their chests; Abdullah has an upside-down peace sign in a star, and Nutt has a two-fingers-up peace sign. Their video, published Sunday, has over 26,000 hits on YouTube.
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"It doesn't take super speed or super strength to be a hero," Abdullah explains. "A superhero can be much simpler than that."
After a shot with both boys standing reverently at attention before an American flag, the video switches to an everyday scene – a man at a fast-food drive-thru, about to pay for his food.
Before he can reach the window, however, the man stops. A teenager in a cape – Abdullah – tells him "Stop right there!" and pays for his food, giving the worker a ten and telling her to keep the change for herself.
"You can save someone's day through simple acts of kindness," Abdullah explained. In the next scene, he and Nutt give a waitress a tip, despite the fact they didn't order anything.
In another scene, Abdullah approaches a stranger, saying "excuse me, ma'am, I have some mail to make your day happier." He gives her an envelope with twenty dollars in it. When she asks his name, he says, "I'm your friendly neighborhood…Peace Man!" The name was coined by a little boy in a department store.
"We're not asking you guys to go around town and blow off money on random people you don't know," Nutt explains. "All we're asking you guys to do is, when you see an opportunity to do good, take it."
The pair surprises people at work, give donuts to policemen, and even stop cars in the middle of the street. As Abdullah gives flowers to a lady in a car, he declares "my superpower is to make you smile!"
While the pair do not make any comments on faith, their acts of kindness inspire some religious expressions from the people they help. After Abdullah buys a woman the movies she couldn't afford, and runs out to give them to her, she says "that's very sweet of you – Merry Christmas to you!" After Nutt gives food to a homeless man, the man bends to his knees to pray a humble thanks.
"You don't have to run around in tights, although if you want to, it is pretty fun," Abdullah says. Leveling with the audience, he adds, "but in all seriousness, every single little act of kindness gets passed down and slowly makes this world a better place."
