Captain Save 'em: Being too much of a friend.

In high school, there was a term used among my friends: Captain Save 'em. The term best describes someone being too much of a friend. At one point, or several points, I, you, and all the people you know, have been or will be, Captain Save 'Em. I try so hard to not fall into this category, but it usually happens when you are not trying.

 The term best describes someone who swoops in from above to save a friend from some kind of situation simply because they are friends. For instance, if someone wants to introduce their boyfriend/girlfriend to their friends, but after doing so, the friends notice that the boyfriend/girlfriend is rude. The Captain will say something like "Yeah, but you just don't understand how hard her /his life is" or "Oh nah man! they were just kidding! That's just their sense of swag! haha." That's your cue, "Captaaaaaaaaaaain Save 'em."

Oh believe me, it sucks. But it feels so good when you call someone else out being a captain. Or when you stop yourself from being a captain. But one thing you should never do is become angry that you are a captain. The truth is, it shows a good quality about yourself: you care about your friends. But, I urge anyone and everyone to be a captain sometimes. Being a captain is the equivalent being a "My child can do no wrong" parent. Plus, if done often, it villainizes those the captain are protecting the poor soul against.

We have seen this happen in mainstream media all the time. For instance, when Kramer released his mouth and unleashed the infamous racist rant (although for some reason people only recalled him saying the "nigger" once). The next day, every person that had met Kramer (or having a severe case of race guilt) tied on their cape and flew in to the rescue the poor guy. Granted, he was in a need of some kind of rescue. However, the big problem was that there wasn't any real saving. There was only Captain saving.  "Kramer's not racist! He is my friend! I have known him for years!" Nice argument. This person did not do anything wrong at all because he is someone's friend.

Unfortunately, I think sometimes its too easy to forget what it actually means to be a friend. When you are someone's friend, you should "keep it real" with them all the time. Why? Because they deserve truth. We want our friends to grow. And standing by them when they do something wrong does the complete opposite. Instead, we should just stand by them when the whole world tells them they are wrong (assuming they actually are) and silently agree.

Being Captain Save 'em is like being Stan...and no one likes a Stan.


Villainy.