Holy Snark Trap! Steel Man, official Superhero of the City of Pittsburgh

There is an axiom that goes: Never Piss Off A Writer because they will put you in their work and have their revenge by making you ridiculous to a large group of people.

I believe there is a corollary for bloggers: Don't Blog Snarky because it will bite you in the ass and make you ridiculous to a large group of people.

Thursday I blogged about the Rain City Superheroes, a group that patrols the streets of Seattle in costume (uniform?) doing things they believe are Good and perhaps Heroic. I referred to them as Harbingers of the Apocalypse which, on reflection, was a bit hyperbolic.

Friday I blogged about Callista Gingrich and Ellis the Elephant, and I boldly asserted TSSAAT, The Strangest Stories Are Always True.


Saturday I was presented with an opportunity to reflect on Superheroes and Strange Stories when I met a SuperHero in the gas station on Route 65 in Bellevue.

It was a beautiful windy day. I rode my bicycle around the city for several hours. I had stopped by Occupy Pittsburgh where a couple of people were wearing Guy Fawkes masks, which I now understand was a foreshadowing of subsequent events.

I was driving my car along Route 65, stopped for gas, and saw a Curiously Dressed Person at the adjacent pump. I thought, I've got to ask, even though I myself was dressed somewhat curiously in my paunchy bicycle kit.

I introduced myself, apologized for my unusual garb (which he agreed about), and then asked, What's This? May I take a picture? Certainly, he said in a definitive Superhero voice. I am Steel Man, official superhero of the City of Pittsburgh.

Unprompted, Steel Man flexed into a sort of Captain Morgan pose. I took the photo and committed an unintended faux pas, saying thanks Steeler Man which he graciously corrected to Steel-Man in a voice that suggested he's heard mortals make that error before, and he closed by saying you can look me up on the internet before he roared off into the distance on his motorcycle. As he drove away, I thought "nobody's going to believe this".


I googled Official Superhero of Pittsburgh just like he told me to, and found Steel-Man.com (just like he said I would).

He does have a sidekick, but that may be a tail for another day. It is a funny world.

Rock On, Steel Man.