Superman's Pal

In a previous life I was a preschool teacher (for nearly eight years, as a matter of fact). Back then, I used to wear a Superman ring that haddayr had given to me, and when kids would see it at school, they'd always ask about it.

"Oh, yeah," I'd say. "This is my signal ring that I use to call Superman with if there's an emergency. There's a secret button on it that I can press and it sends out an ultrasonic frequency only Superman can hear."

"No, it isn't," they'd say. "Where's the button?"

"Oh, I can't show you the button," I'd tell them. "Someone might try to press just to see if it works."

"Let me see that ring," one of them would say, and I'd hand it over so they could inspect it.

Each of the kids would turn it over in his or her hands, searching for the hidden button and pressing different spots here and there on the ring. Finally, one of them would hand it back to me.

"Does that really call Superman?" the kid would ask hopefully.

"Sure," I'd say, and put it back on my finger. And the kids would look at me, still not sure if they believed in me or not, but desperately wanting to.

When I was their age, I would have felt the same way.