One morning, while out and about running errands, you begin experiencing a host of weird sensations. Your forearms go momentarily numb. An intermittent tingling runs between your ankles and knees. The inside of your stomach occasionally feels ticklish. These events are evenly spaced out over a few hours, but by noon you are concerned enough to do a websearch.
To your horror, you find a respected medical site detailing your symptoms to the letter. Your condition is gravely serious, and the article states that when one's ears and nose suddenly go cold, an individual has only ten minutes to live.
Moments later, your ears and nose instantly feel as cold as ice.
Despite your best efforts, you are unable to find any mention of the cause or nature of this ailment, whether it be genetic, something you ingested, or whatever else. The condition appears extremely rare and almost nothing about it is yet understood. All you know is that you have less than ten minutes to live.
What do you do with the time you have left?
11 comments:
10 minutes?!? Guess I'd be calling people. Or just plain panic. Probably panic.
Presumably, if I'm having serious issues earlier in the day, Joe would be nearby. If he is nearby, I'd make sure he was holding me for that entire 10 minutes (cheesy, but, hello it's death?!). If he's not there, I would call him in my last few minutes. Either way, for the first 3 minutes, I would write a letter to my family (and friends, maybe?). Then I would say a prayer for 3-4 minutes. Then I would spend the last 3-4 minutes saying goodbye to Joe. This is a horrible thoughtlab. I think I'm gonna cry.
(By horrible, I mean difficult to think of/dwell upon.)
This took a minute to think up, so thank you for forcing me to figure out a plan ahead of time.
Find a party with one of those clowns performing for the kids and when the timing is right accuse him of poisoning me in front of everyone, thereby doing my part to create at least a party-full of disturbed children who dislike clowns and getting rid of a clown (assuming he would at least lose his job if not go to jail).
My work here is done and I believe the world is one clown better for me having been here.
Plan A: steal a cop car and take it for a joyride with the lights on and radio blaring
Plan B: either write a letter/call my family and tell them I love them and share the gospel with my mom and grandma (and other family members)and beg them to accept Jesus in full submission
I'd probably try to find a second (and then third) opinion about said condition, call the people I care about most, and maybe get myself to a medical center.
Although, I experience numbness, tingling, and freezing extremities on a regular basis so I probably wouldn't have thought enough about it to look it up in the first place and would have been blissfully unaware of my impending doom.
Well, assuming I'm at a computer looking at Web MD or something similar, I would probably post a facebook status update, which sounds goofy, but would at least allow me to communicate something to a bunch of people.
I'd then call my family and then say a few prayers.
If I were near a restaurant or diner I would maybe try and get a quick slice of chocolate cake for my last earthly food (which would be an insignificant act, but fun). And if I were near a city street, I would maybe give a stranger a hug.
I just hope I wouldn't freak out or get all "deer in the headlights" for my last 10 minutes.
I don't think I would be able to explain the situation to anyone quickly enough. Even if I tried, it would make the 10 minutes a panic. With such a small amount of time, I would probably sit at my computer listening to something beautiful -- something that would make my last 10 minutes peaceful, reflective, and imbued with meaning. If there were other people at the house, I would call them over to listen with me.
I'd totally listen to this (skipping the first 37 seconds): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV3SHBFyDZM&feature=related
Honestly....I would probably hand write a note to friends and family and then have Derek help me write down an outlined will. I don't want people arguing over what I would have wanted. No arguing......no casket, no urn, just donate every organ you can to someone who can use it.
Oh, and a big party with friends and liquor.
Man, this is like *the* thoughtlab.
Hopefully, I would be able to recall this Thoughtlab question and execute the plan outlined below:
1. There are a few phone calls I would like to make (briefly, obviously--perhaps they'd be emails), including my parents and closest friends and let them know how much I love them, that sort of thing. I'd probably also call an ambulance (just in case, you know?).
2. I would get a big piece of chocolate, stick peanut butter all over it, and go outside with a blanket and stuffed koala in tow. If I had a dog, that would be even better.
3. I would proceed to take off my shoes and do some stretching that I find particularly pleasant for the last time.
4. I'd feel my feet in the grass, eat the chocolate, and pray; hopefully, it is a sunny day and I could just kind of enjoy being in my body and being sentient.
I also like Matt's ideas of the Facebook update (hopefully, I would be calm enough to go out with something a little snarky) and giving a stranger a hug.
Phew--those would be a really busy 10 minutes, actually.
First, call an ambulance.
Then, I guess I'd try to fire off some sort of blog post or note, along with a short clip of me on YouTube, telling loved ones my feelings. It seems the quickest way to say what I want to say to the most people.
If Amy is home with me, she helps me do this, as well as writing down any last-minute "will" kinda stuff.
Then, I'd fight like hell to live. I will not go quietly into the night.
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