What would You do???

[tourists24]

I was listening to the radio Wednesday and was presented with one of those "what would you do" moments. Here's the scenario....

You work in a train yard and a train full of 200 passengers is coming your way. Your 9 year old child is coming out to see you and gets their foot tightly stuck in the tracks. You have to act quickly. You can do one of 2 things. You have time to divert the train to a dead end section of unused track and save your child. Problem is this unused track ends and all of the passengers will be killed. OR, you can let the train continue on and all of the passengers will live. Of course one person will die; your child.... What do you do? Save one and let 200 die or save the crowd and let the one die?

 

[wisedragonfly]

Ouch! That's a tough one!!
I'd take a 3rd option... I would make an attempt to jump down on the track and either free my child to safety or die with them. I don't think I could divert the train and kill 200 people, nor could I stand there helplessly and watch my child die in front of my eyes without attempting to help them.

 

[dilligaf]

This is a Kobayshi Maru scenario. There is always another option.

 

[rod]

To me it would be a no brainer---sorry you 200- its not your day

 

[bubsdad]

To me it would be a no brainer---sorry you 200- its not your day

Yep....Here's another one: You are a firefighter and you are battling a house fire. You, your partner and a child are in the house. Your partner goes down. You have to decide which life to save, the child or your partner. Which one do you save?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Yep....Here's another one: You are a firefighter and you are battling a house fire. You, your partner and a child are in the house. Your partner goes down. You have to decide which life to save, the child or your partner. Which one do you save?

The child. Your partner is an adult who has already had a chance to live part if not most of his life. The child has not even begun to do so.

Of course, if your partner has a family than that throws my answer out the window.

Thank God my only tough decision in life is debit or credit.

 

[toonertoo]

To me it would be a no brainer---sorry you 200- its not your day

Im with you. Sorry people.

 

[dilligaf]

The child. Your partner is an adult who has already had a chance to live part if not most of his life. The child has not even begun to do so.

Of course, if your partner has a family than that throws my answer out the window.

Thank God my only tough decision in life is debit or credit.

Not paper or plastic?

 

[toonertoo]

Yep....Here's another one: You are a firefighter and you are battling a house fire. You, your partner and a child are in the house. Your partner goes down. You have to decide which life to save, the child or your partner. Which one do you save?

SAVE the child.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Not paper or plastic?

I actually typed that in first but changed it.

Like minds thinking alike.

 

[bubsdad]

Yep....Here's another one: You are a firefighter and you are battling a house fire. You, your partner and a child are in the house. Your partner goes down. You have to decide which life to save, the child or your partner. Which one do you save?

This is actually a question on a firefighter interview. I am in agreement with the people that said save the child. Unfortunately, that is the incorrect answer for a prospective firefighter. His first priority is the safety of his partner. I argued that his partner was an adult that made a concientious decision to put himself at risk and the child was innocent. Doesn't matter. A firefighter's first priority is his partner.

 

[cachsux]

This is a Kobayshi Maru scenario. There is always another option.

Get out your communicator,call Mr. Spock,and teleport the kid to safety?

 

[cachsux]

This is actually a question on a firefighter interview. I am in agreement with the people that said save the child. Unfortunately, that is the incorrect answer for a prospective firefighter. His first priority is the safety of his partner. I argued that his partner was an adult that made a concientious decision to put himself at risk and the child was innocent. Doesn't matter. A firefighter's first priority is his partner.

I know a lot of firefighters who would tell their partner to go get the kid out. Their job,at times,is to risk injury or death to save a life.

 

[over9five]

1. Save my kid and wish the 200 people good luck.

2. Save the kid and wish my partner good luck,

 

[soberups]

If the kid is small enough, you can yank him out of there by tearing his foot off at the ankle. The 200 people whose lives you just saved can take up a collection for a prosthetic foot for your kid, and he spends the rest of his life setting off metal detectors at the airport. Problem solved.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

...or you can forget the prosthetic and he could work at I-Hop.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

...or you can forget the prosthetic and he could work at I-Hop.

HUH?

To answer the original question, without changing scenario's and only given those 2 options, I would probably die along with my child while trying to free them from the tracks.

 

[moreluck]

if it's a girl, you can change her name to Ilene !!

 

[bubsdad]

...or you can forget the prosthetic and he could work at I-Hop.

That's just wrong.

 

[rod]

if it's a girl, you can change her name to Ilene !!

Or Peg