Embolden

character is what you do when invisible

In a class on character with pre-tweens at a private school, if you could turn invisible, I asked, what would you do?

❝ Take money from a bank vault. All the gold and cash, I’d clear the place out.

So goldbricks and bags of loot sorta floating out the door?

❝ Well, that or slide ’em across the floor. Haul out my stash and head back for more.

And what’s to stop a security guard from this slo-mo robbery?

❝ Shame. You see floating gold and something’s gonna soil. Won’t be me.

Brief silence as awkward images form in punchline minds.

❝ I would do things for people.

Like a secret superman? Nobody knows who saved the city?

❝ Or maybe the classic kitty in the tree.

But if it’s helpful, why be invisible?

❝ True. What I’d really do is hang out in the girl’s bathroom.

No invisible clothes. You’d be naked in the loo.

❝ Oh. Then it’s good they can’t see me. I might shame myself too.

About Me

Roger Kenyon was North America’s first lay canon lawyer and associate director at the Archdiocese of Seattle. He was involved in tech (author of Macintosh Introductory Programming, Mainstay) before teaching (author of ThinkLink: a learner-active program, Riverwood). Roger lives near Toronto and offers free critical thinking and character development courses online.

“When not writing, I’m riding—eBike, motorbike, and a mow cart that catches air down the hills. One day I’ll have Goldies again.”