A simple scenario to consider the appropriateness of a set of behaviours:
You have just recieved word that a nuclear missile is headed for your town. The odds are astronomically in favour of you and just about everyone else being burned to death in, oh, say… an hour.
What do you do?
[assume variables have been included to prevent ‘get out of town’ from being a viable response]
I find the highest precipice in the region, (e.g. cliff, mountain, skyscraper) and seconds before the nuclear missle impacts, I jump.
First, I’d phone those close to my heart and tell them that I love them. Make the conversation short. Might be hard but I’ve got an immutable schedule to keep.
Then I’d jump in the car and go buy the best pair of Leicas available whether I could afford them or not. Race back home.
Then I’d let my little bird Brat free and spend the rest of our lives watching him fly around the trees.
God, that was beautifyl, brachy. What a nice thought. I’d spend it calling my family to say I love you, then snuggle up in the bed with hubby and cats and dog. That’s my favorite place in the whole world, so if I had to leave the world, that’s how I’d want to do it.
Hmmm… this is a tough one. I’d probably make a few quick phone calls to the people that I’m not near, but are near to my heart none-the-less. Then I’d sit in front of the computer and try to compose the best poem I’ve ever thought of to say good-bye to everyone I’m leaving behind. Unfortunately, unlike TA, I don’t have anyone in the town that I’m in to hold and be held by at the moment. But I would spend every last moment reliving every good memory my life has had to give me, and hoping that someone else will remember them for me long after I’m gone.
Gee, now I need to put on some Queensryche… 
Assuming everybody is just kicking back and making peace with their very finite existence, the roads would be empty. I could get into my truck and hightail it out of there. Going 85-90 mph, I could get out of the nuclear blast zone. Of course, I could just kick back, drink a beer and kiss my ass goodbye.
If the word was out and it was one hour until smash-the-pumpkins time, I doubt if I or cooldude (who lives a couple of blocks away from me) could clear Houston. Horrendous traffic jam would ensue (No, cooldude, I doubt you’d have enough give-up-the-ghost feeling abounding to clear the roads). I’d probably try and hunker down and get as good and drunk as possible.
If I awake, there’s a new perspective to be drawn.
My dad’s always said that in such an eventuality he’d hop in his car and drive as fast as he could toward ground zero. To hell with slow radiation poisoning, reasons he.
For me, I’d drive down the street to the Merritt Canteen and eat one last chili dog. Then I’d go home, pour a pint of Sam Adams, light a cigarette, and walk outside. With a bellyful of beer and hot sauce, I wouldn’t be able to keep the smile off my face, I think, as I curse loudly and creatively at everything I can think of. If it’s nighttime when this is happening, I’d toast the moon and Orion before I hunkered down into my gleeful rage.
I ll get my dad s car keys and drive to some friends of mine (who cares about a licence if we are all diing anyways?) - find all the weed and hash we have and roll a big one.
I bet we would enjoy the beautiful sight of the nuclear bomb exploding before we die. Maybe in this situation my rents would come along to the last stoner meeting…
I d rather be together with ALL my friends and the boyfriend too, but they are out of reach… scattered all over the damned earthball.
That would sure be sad, knowing that I ll never see them again.
dodgy
who didnt smoke much lately…
Ideally I would light some incense and meditate quietly until the end, contemplating the ephemeral nature of human existence.
In reality I would run though the streets screaming “I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die!” at the top of my lungs until somebody hit me over the head with a baseball bat.
I would call up my Mom, Dad, & Sister and tell them I love them. Make love one last time to the Mrs. Gather the family up (wife, children, & dogs) a bag of chips and a couple of beers. Then walk down to the park and sit by the lake until crispy critter time.
I think I would just hold my husband and daughter real close and call my 'rents.
Call my family, then get as close to ground zero as I can and kiss my ass goodbye. I’d rather die fast.
In a similar way, were I to be in a plane crash, I’d rather die. That way I’d never have to face getting on a plane again.
Well, I probably start a thread, and say goodbye to the SD. I’d also call my mom and grandma. After I did that, I’d get in bed with Mr Wicked, and well, go out with a smile.
Rose
I’d call my broker to cash out,send whatever money I have to some charity. then I’d set up my video camera to record to a remote system somewhere outside of the blast zone. Then I’d break out some Makers Mark and KBs and sit on the roof to see the fireworks.
Although If I was feeling responsible I’d start documenting processes, because no one at the company headquarters in California has the sightest idea how to do my job.
I probably wouldn’t do anything too different from what I do everyday. Sit around, usually online. I might call one or two people. Maybe.
Throw a gigantic “party” and have every single one of my friends and/or relatives that can come, come.
Those who couldn’t come, I’d phone, and tell them I love them and how much they’ve meant to me.
Approximately a minute before meltdown, I’d have a toast made to all of our lives.
I couldn’t think of a better way to go, surrounded by everyone I love.
My ex-b/f would be at or on his way to an orgy, so I couldn’t tell him I still love him.
Screw my family, I would call my friend Ed, tell him I love him and by this time tomorrow I’ll be haunting him.
Then I would go to the roof of my building and wait for it
Gosh, so many people would do thoughtful, happy things. I guess I might as well be the first (or the only) one to admit to the darker side of my nature: I would find my worst enemies and murder them. If we’re all going to die anyway, I might as well get a little satisfaction from their deaths.
[sub]Well, maybe not. But I would want to.[/sub]