Who doesn’t love a good cape? It all depends on the situation, I suppose.

The Time I Wore a Cape

When I had the privilege of being a drum major in college (go, Boston University!), I got to wear a cape. It was silver and shiny and oh so long, on me at least. That’s what a small 5 feet 1 inch package of good intentions can do for you.

The band performed music from Guys and Dolls that year. To the tune of Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat, my bandmates marched across the football field, morphing into all sorts of shapes and patterns. I stood on a 16-foot platform to conduct, moving my arms to keep the beat. Then, at one memorable halftime performance, a fierce gush of wind nearly knocked me down.

A storm was rolling in and the wind would not let up. I had a choice. I could let the wind blow me over. If that happened, I would crash to the ground, risking injury as I struck the metal podium on the way. Or I could stand tall and hold my ground. To do that, I would have to do something out of the ordinary.

The Choice I Made

My bandmates were lower to the ground than I was. Less exposed to the elements, many of them did not realize how literally off balance I was. It so happened we were at the end of a musical movement and the band was holding a long note. From that note, we would move right into a marching sequence without a break.

If I started on the next movement, moving my arms up and down would cause me to fall. The band would not have anyone to lead them and chaos would break out as people played music and marched around out of sync. Sure, it could have made a funny viral video when they bumped into each other on the field but the performance would have been lost. Is that what we wanted to be remembered for?

Instead, I decided to hold my hands over my head until I found my balance. It felt like we held that note for an hour, though it may have only been 6 to 10 seconds. That can feel like a long time when you’re blowing into an instrument! The wind billowed under my cape until I felt secure enough to move on. It looked like I was about to take flight.

The Cape as a Symbol

My cape wasn’t so long that I tripped on it, but it was long enough that I almost flew away. It was long enough that if I wanted to be a superhero I would definitely be in trouble. So many superheroes turned to the cape because it made them feel powerful. Even Wonder Woman had one back in the Lynda Carter days. What you wear can give you a boost of confidence. It can even be a status symbol.

In the animated world of The Incredibles, costume designer Edna E. Mode warned us about the dangers of superhero capes. Metaman was caught in an express elevator. Splashdown was sucked into a vortex. Thunderhead snagged his cape on a missile fin, and of course, Stratogale was pulled into a jet turbine!

The problem is common enough that there is actually a medical code for it. Yes, it’s true. There is an ICD-10 code – V97.33 – for being sucked into a jet engine.

All About the Ego

Capes are a fashion statement all their own. You can wear one to keep you warm, to protect yourself against the elements, to complement a dress or other formal wear, or for status. If you think about it, military generals sometimes wear capes when they march in parades. Superheroes too.

The problem is some people wear them for ego. Mr. Incredible’s arch nemesis Syndrome, like Stratogale, also got sucked into a jet engine. Syndrome wanted to be a villain so badly, his ego steered him to the all-powerful cape despite the warnings. Instead of learning from his predecessors, he chose the costume that fed his narcissism and ultimately led to his doom. If only more people (and governments) could take a lesson from history, we could avoid so much loss and heartache.

Some bandmates thought I was showboating that day, no pun intended (we were playing Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat at the time). By holding that note longer than normal, I was asserting control, telling them I could do what I want whenever I want. Not at all. What I really did was keep it together for myself and for the group. It wasn’t about ego at all. It was about being a team player. Sometimes a cape is just a cape.