Superpower Evolution

While going through papers recently, I found a number of my old IDs. This allowed me to provide proof of the superpower I discussed in last week’s post. For those of y’all who haven’t read it yet (And why not?), my superpower is that I look good in all of my ID photos. And here’s the proof, along with some description of when and why I got the IDs.

(And for anyone who is tempted to hate me for this ability, let me remind you that as much as one might want this skill, it doesn’t translate into any benefit in my life. I’d be happy to trade it for a better job, or more money, or more time to do the things I want to do. But since I don’t have the choice, I figure that I’d be better off enjoying what I have.)

The earliest of these was taken at the age of 10 – my first-ever passport photo, taken before my parents took the family on a trip to Israel. (This passport only served me for 5 years. Once you turn 18, you can get passports that will last 10 years.)

Passport photo, 23 November 1984

My next photo is my high school ID. Like my passport photograph, this was one of my official school photos — from 8th or 9th grade, so it can be dated to about 1988.

Despite my height (5′ 5″ or so), I played volleyball in high school. (I got on the team because of a severe lack of players — my first year, there weren’t even enough of us to play a full practice with six against six. Over the years, I developed some skills, so when one of my teammates told me about the chance to play in the JCC Maccabi Games in 1990 in Detroit, I was excited.

The Maccabi Games are an international sports competition for Jewish teenagers, and the majority of participants work hard and need to try out for their positions. I was asked to join a team that needed more players to attend, and I had barely a month to practice. (The truth is that our team pretty much sucked — but we had fun!)

Looking at this photo, you can see the limits of my superpowers. I was apparently in a bad mood when this was taken, and you can tell. However, I suspect most people would be thrilled to have an ID photo where they looked good, if irritated.

ID issued 16 August 1990.

I graduated and went on to college in 1991. I found two college IDs, one from my freshman year, and one from my senior year. The big difference between them (aside from my hair length) is that, as my eyesight got worse, I had to start wearing glasses all the time. (I first got glasses in 10th grade, and didn’t need them all the time until college.) Boy, those big glasses look weird now, don’t they?

Freshman at Rice University,
August 1991

Senior at Rice University,
August 1994

I got another passport (probably my third, although I have no clue what I did with the interim one) in the spring of 1997. That was the year that I traveled to Australia for a friend’s wedding — the longest plane flight I’ve taken. For several years during this period, I wore contact lenses — something I haven’t really done in about 8 years.