This post was written by Andy who has a unique understanding of our little guy and a great way of writing about him.
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Caleb Walsh, the hardest working man in the Empire
By now you are probably familiar with the exploits of Margot, Sal, Ziggy, Bella, Queenie, and the plethora of Mexican relatives that form Sadie's imaginary posse. Well, not to be outdone, Caleb has started accumulating his own band of adventurers for his own ongoing saga. But unlike Sadie, Caleb has chosen his companions from the ranks of the various stories and video games he enjoys so much. That's probably not surprising, given how much time the boy spends with his nose in a book. And he is at the age where many boys get engrossed in the world of superheroes, globe trotters, and space adventurers. There's just one little detail that makes me a little concerned: Caleb keeps siding with the villains.
Now, as a parent, you worry about your kids falling in with the wrong crowd. But how do you prepare for you kid becoming friends with supervillains and video game bosses? Of all the characters in the Star Wars universe, Caleb likes to spend time with Emperor Palpatine, evil despot of the Galactic Empire. After playing Super Mario Brothers, Caleb decided to be friends with Bowser, the scourge of the Mushroom Kingdom. He plays with supervillains, Batman's rogue gallery, notorious bounty hunters, and ne'er-do-wells from all sorts of fictional universes. Just where did I go wrong as a father?
Did I do something wrong? By teaching my son that making a few bad choices doesn't make him a bad person, have I blinded him to the fact that there is true evil in the world? Or should I be learning from him? Does he have a capacity for unconditional friendship that I should be seeking to emulate? Perhaps it would help to understand just what it is that makes Caleb choose these friends. Does he have ambitions of global domination, a penchant for mayhem, or perhaps a desire for untold riches? Well, if his ongoing stories are any indication, what Caleb likes best about the forces of evil is not any of these things. No, he's in it for the anonymity of mid-level service positions.
He may be boyhood friends with the emperor of the Galaxy, but there is no job too small for Caleb. He's the tractor beam operator, the TIE fighter repairman, the AT-AT pilot. He tended to the Sarlacc when it was just a baby. The other day he gave Dr. Freeze an eye exam; I can only assume he provides optometry services for all supervillains. He appears to take great pride in doing the jobs that no one else ever seems to have time to do in these fictional worlds. So, why not use all of his prodigious talents for good? As near as I can tell, it's because heroes don't have legions of nameless minions. You see, while he enjoys playing in these worlds, he can't imagine trying to be one of the characters. Those are other people, not him. And since the nature of these stories don't really allow for anonymous heroes, the only place for him is among the ranks of the bad guys.
Caleb loves his books; he wouldn't dare change them just to suit his own pretending. That would violate his Prime Directive. So he goes to some pretty extraordinary lengths to dance between the raindrops of established continuity, to find a way to be a part of the stories as they are. Hence he works behind the scenes, fixing machines, building satellites, and generally keeping the lights on, all the while bearing witness to these epic tales. He always manages to be right there whenever something important is happening. But at just the wrong (right?) moment, fate will intervene to keep Caleb from having any impact. "I was just about to grab Chewbacca, but I tripped." "I tried to leap into action, but I fell into the sand and got stuck." "I almost stopped Han Solo, but Emperor Palpatine had been eating fruit and I slipped on a banana peel." These near misses never bother him; whatever happened couldn't have happened any other way.
Maybe one day Caleb will get to be the hero of his own story. I guess being friends with a villain doesn't always mean you have to become one yourself. Many heroes were close friends with their archnemesis at some point. Caleb's compassion and selfless desire to help others certainly seem like traits of a hero, not a villain. And he's certainly learning a lot of useful skills. His favorite stories may be set in stone, but his story is still largely unwritten. I look forward to seeing it unfold. And in the meantime, whenever I watch "Star Wars" and see that Storm Trooper smack his head on a door as he makes his way through the Death Star, I'll know that isn't just any faceless henchman. That's my Caleb, the hardest working man in the Empire.
