Perhaps any who ever watched William Shatner's television show Rescue 911 share my feelings of inadequacy. Viewing makes you think that some guy hanging by his ankles off a 40-story building to rescue a stranded window washer is everyday stuff. One episode dealt with a three-year-old who saved his mother from a seizure. Someone told me of a dog who saved his entire family from a burning house. Me? I'm lucky once in a blue moon just to save somebody a parking space.

There was one occasion when I physically carried a young man from his apartment and transported him to an emergency room. He had overdosed on drugs. Attempted suicide, he confessed while still under the influence. I felt pretty good about what I had done for several hours ... until the young man sobered up. Then I learned that he…