# From The Stand: Which side would you have been on? (SPOILERS in the OP) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001 "2004-03-13T01:01:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/1 "2004-03-13T01:01:32Z")
In Stephen King’s _The Stand_, a big nasty Superflu wipes out 99.9% of the population, and the survivors found themselves being drawn towards opposing supernatural sides in some divine conflict. “Good” people went to Boulder, Colorado, under the tutelage of Jedi Master Yod-\* uh, I mean, Mother Abigail. “Bad” people went to Las Vegas to side with Randall Flagg, the Walkin’ Dude, the Embodiment of Evil and He Who Has A Cheesy Prosthetic Face But It’s Okay Because The Rest Of The Movie Was Relatively Great. 'Course, there’re gray areas… some people that went to Boulder were asses, and some that went to Vegas were swell. “Good” and “Bad” have a lot of overlap… So where d’ya think you’d go? Boulder - good skiing and divine righteousness - or Las Vegas - sex, drugs, rock and roll, and nuclear detonations? Well, let’s ignore the nukes for this thread… ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/2 "2004-03-13T01:04:19Z")
Crud, I fergot to answer for myself… To be perfectly honest, I’d probably head to Vegas, half because it’s far closer to my house than Boulder… but I’m also a sucker for booze and lechery. I’d like to think I’m a good guy, but man… oh man… 'Course, the whole “living in subdued terror of Flagg” might get old after a while… ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/3 "2004-03-13T03:35:04Z")
Dude, don’t you remember the hippie-dippie utopian atmosphere of early Boulder? With everyone basically being decent and sort of stunned by their “good” fortune, wandering around and being able to pick and choose any type mansion or cottage they desired? (albeit ones that had to have the dead bodies cleared out of them, except that Boulder had “miraculously” been mostly emptied of people due to a rumor, if I remember correctly) Not to mention being able to finally! smoke “legal” weed (which I don’t think any of our beloved goody two-shoes characters did in the book, but I definitely would have!). Remember, in Vegas, the penalty of more than a beer was _crucifixion_! Ouch! \*\*Disclaimer: I do not smoke pot. \*\* I also would’ve tried to steal Harold from Nadine at the crucial moment. Of course, that would’ve ruined the book. **But** , _I_ could’ve changed him into a _good guy_. With just my Llllllooooovvvvveeeee. I would’ve _totally_ been in Boulder. (Now, to try to conjure a lucid dream where I get to live there. ) Mmmmmmrrrrrrrgggghhhhhh… ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/4 "2004-03-13T03:37:11Z")
Oops, penalty _for_ more than a beer… ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/5 "2004-03-13T11:15:50Z")
definitely Boulder- Mother Abigail woulda gotten sick of my wanting her to enforce a C’tian conservative/libertarian social order tho. She’d have definitely resolved the gay marriage Q tho! _L_ ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/6 "2004-03-13T12:12:00Z")
Definitely Boulder. I think Vegas is cool in a way, but it’s always kind of depressed me. During my childhood, when we were on a family vacation, we’d barrel past Las Vegas as quickly as we could to get to the pretty mountainous places, like Colorado. Colorado it is. (You know, mountains. Kind of like how Yosemite has mountains. Need I say more?) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/7 "2004-03-13T13:09:30Z")
> [@SPOOFE](#): > > In Stephen King’s _The Stand_, a big nasty Superflu wipes out 99.9% of the population, and the survivors found themselves being drawn towards opposing supernatural sides in some divine conflict. “Good” people went to Boulder, Colorado, under the tutelage of Jedi Master Yod-\* uh, I mean, Mother Abigail. “Bad” people went to Las Vegas to side with Randall Flagg, the Walkin’ Dude, the Embodiment of Evil and He Who Has A Cheesy Prosthetic Face But It’s Okay Because The Rest Of The Movie Was Relatively Great. > > 'Course, there’re gray areas… some people that went to Boulder were asses, and some that went to Vegas were swell. “Good” and “Bad” have a lot of overlap… > > So where d’ya think you’d go? Boulder - good skiing and divine righteousness - or Las Vegas - sex, drugs, rock and roll, and nuclear detonations? > > Well, let’s ignore the nukes for this thread… Disagree with your division, **SPOOFE** : it wasn’t “Good guys”-\>Boulder, “Bad Guys”-\>Vegas. King made the point repeatedly that Luddites and Anarchist types went to Boulder and Techies & Law-n-Order types went to Boulder. Also, there was no drugs, limited lechery and limited booze in Vegas–Flagg crucified people for stuff like public drunkeness, IIRC. Given some of Glenn’s rants about the differences between the place (Glenn is \*such \* a moron but kudos to King for breathing so much life into him!) as well as some of the narrator’s comments, anyone who’s so much as put together his or her own computer is into science and therefore is “anti-life” ( :rolleyes: ) and ends up in Vegas. I like the book, but I have to close my eyes and hold my nose at the philosophy: It’s a very techophobic/anti-science/pro-Luddite book. (King horribly blows it when he makes pro-tech types compatible with hyper-authoritarian types. I mean, c’mon. Just look at the internet for an example of tech-types run amok: hardly a fascist paradise.) IMO, the choices you have are: Boulder: Free love ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ anarchist paradise…but you won’t get electricity for months, you’ll probably get cholera when someone decides to dump crap in the water supply and you’re surrounded by morons who, when someone drunkenly wanders up and down the street destroying irreplaceable resources, decide to hold a committee meeting to determine the holistic way of changing his moral outlook without bumming out his karma. Vegas: Lights are on. No chance of cholera or disease. Generally beneveolent dictatorship (orphans and retarded people are taken care of, for example)…but the key word is “Generally”. Overall, you’ll have normal levels American law-n-order, but with some really bizarre excesses: piss off the dictator and you’re crucifed on a telephone pole type stuff. And I’d probably end up in Vegas—not because I like Flagg, but because I’m a tech-guy and, y’know, we’re all fascist pro-Nazis “on a deathtrip”\* types :rolleyes: Fenris \*actual term used to describe techies/engineers/scientists. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/8 "2004-03-13T14:15:30Z")
Boulder, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/9 "2004-03-13T14:23:52Z")
What **Fenris** said. Except for the nuclear detonation and the crucifixions, Vegas wins, no contest. ---
**Author:** ![YPOD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e99b99/32.png) [@YPOD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YPOD)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/10 "2004-03-13T14:58:27Z")
Boulder for me. Flagg had everyone working an eight hour day there, and I want to retire. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/11 "2004-03-13T18:17:53Z")
I wanted to see the Grammy Lady and play with Big Steve! ---
**Author:** ![Miaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@Miaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miaz)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/12 "2004-03-13T23:03:01Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Boulder: Free love ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ anarchist paradise…but you won’t get electricity for months, you’ll probably get cholera when someone decides to dump crap in the water supply and you’re surrounded by morons who, when someone drunkenly wanders up and down the street destroying irreplaceable resources, decide to hold a committee meeting to determine the holistic way of changing his moral outlook without bumming out his karma. People are going to deficate on a glacier? I think I’m stupid enough to end up in Boulder, I tend to be too entertained by drunkards to stop their waves of destruction. I’m sure my laziness and perchance for procrastination will make me an ideal denizen. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/13 "2004-03-13T23:22:04Z")
The choice is either Boulder or Vegas? Screw that! I’m gathering a harem[sup]\*[/sup] and heading for Florida! I will live on the beach, and drink nothing but tequila. [sup]\*[/sup]Unless the wife won’t let me, that is… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/14 "2004-03-14T08:30:29Z")
Well technically Astroboy, your wife will probably be dead. I mean the Captain Tripps was pretty serious. With my luck, I’d probably be like Stu and end up in a research lab with them trying to figure out why I didn’t die but then when the techs die, I wouldn’t be let out. ---
**Author:** ![LtningBug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@LtningBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LtningBug)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/15 "2004-03-14T08:41:35Z")
Count me in for Boulder, but I also think I’d definitely go mad there due to the touchy-feely stuff fenris mentions. Well, either that or a cabin somewhere in the mountains by myself. ---
**Author:** ![Cheswolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@Cheswolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheswolf)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/16 "2004-03-14T11:48:21Z")
Bah!!! Id wait around in Kansas and hitch a ride with Roland =), But if I had to decide between the two then I would be Boulder Bound. (only 120 pages into Wizards and Glass so dont ruin it for me =P) ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/17 "2004-03-14T12:07:06Z")
I think when first hearing about the two cities, I’d probably choose Vegas. I mean, electricity vs. no electricity, not such a hard dilemma. It would probably take until the first crucifixion for me to realize that Vegas was seriously farked up, at which point I’d want to leave. But since they don’t like people leaving, and since Flagg would be able to read my mind, I’d be dead. So to make a long story short, I wouldn’t be on a side; I’d be in a coffin. ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/18 "2004-03-14T14:13:05Z")
Why _should_ our choices be limited to Vegas or Boulder? They both sound like they suck rocks. Where did people in all the other countries go? Maybe I should duck south of the border someplace. Or north, if it’s not _too_ cold. Someplace with a hydropower station. ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/19 "2004-03-14T15:08:22Z")
> [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](#): > > Why _should_ our choices be limited to Vegas or Boulder? They both sound like they suck rocks. Where did people in all the other countries go? Maybe I should duck south of the border someplace. Or north, if it’s not _too_ cold. Someplace with a hydropower station. That was always my feeling. I abhor crowds and with _everyone_ rushing to fill up those to locales, I’d have been mountain bound! Besides I could have had ALL of the PNW to myself more or less! And as many cats as I wanted without having to listen to everyone around me bitch… all the time in the world to read… yeah! ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001/20 "2004-03-14T15:17:44Z")
> [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](#): > > Why _should_ our choices be limited to Vegas or Boulder? They both sound like they suck rocks. Where did people in all the other countries go? Maybe I should duck south of the border someplace. Or north, if it’s not _too_ cold. Someplace with a hydropower station. But I thought the point was that people were drawn to one or the other of the places - at least those people in the general area of the U.S. I have wondered where the people in the other countries went to - obviously Flagg couldn’t have been in all the countries at once. As for me, I’ve been debating about which place I’d end up. Part of me says Vegas, because the lights were on and because there’s a set of rules - known rules that you either live by, or you die. At the same time, I’ve become less likely to play by the rules the last few years, and Boulder is appealing. I’d like to think I’d end up there for a while anyway. But I’d probably be one of the first to leave once it started getting too big - and then maybe head to a beach somewhere. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-the-stand-which-side-would-you-have-been-on-spoilers-in-the-op/234001.md?page=2)