The Book of Questions – Question #88

You, your closest friend, and your father are on vacation together, hiking with a remote jungle. Your two companions stumble into a nest of poisonous vipers and are bitten repeatedly. You know neither will live without an immediate shot of anti-venom, yet there is only a single dose of anti-venom and it is in your pocket. What would you do?

The logical choice would be to give it to my friend who is younger than my dad and probably has a family. But I’m assuming that we are disregarding logic if my dad is hiking in a remote area. Hell, were disregarding that if I’m hiking in a remote area especially one with poisonous vipers. But unless my dad heavily protests about it, I’m giving the antivenin to him. I mean its family first, then friends, then women & children, then the infirm, then everyone else. I feel that my Asian upbringing and Confucius values leave me no choice in the matter.

Why couldn’t I split the dose in half for each of them? Most likely they would both die on the way back to civilization. I’m all about trying to find a way around the rules in order for me to win or succeed. The ends justify the means and all that. More like my Lawful Evil nature than anything else.

Even if I gave my Dad the antivenin and he survives, getting him out of the jungle would be a challenge. I can’t carry him on my back or even lift him up. Tried that when he fell and Eric was away; I had to call 911 and have the paramedics do it. I still feel bad about that; like I’m a failure for not being able to lift him on my back. All the stories say that’s what a good son does. And I can’t do it, so it must mean I’m a failure. This is the story of my life.

But assuming that my dad is actually on this hike in the first place, I can assume that he can limp back to camp or just lean on me as we go back. But what about my closest friend; what do I do about him. Let’s say that it’s Barry. Do I bury the body? Do I have the tools to bury the body? I mean I have antivenin; do I have a shovel too? The question is kind of unclear on if this is a day hike or if we have tents for camping? I guess it does say hiking, so I probably wouldn’t have a shovel. So Barry’s body would just be there on the ground. I would have to tell Gabi what happened. I would need to mark our way back so that they (rescue people) could go and get the body and bring it back for burial. Would it even be presentable for a casket? Guess it depends on what kind of viper bit them. I wonder if Gabi and her family resent me for saving my dad over their husband/father.

The biggest problem/issue I have with this question is with viper. They weren’t snakes, they were vipers. That’s serious shit! When I hear vipers, I think Indiana Jones when they were trapped in the map room with all of those vipers. Not good stuff. **shiver** Like Indy says, “Why did it have to be snakes!”

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