# Going out in a blaze of glory **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 14, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927 "2013-03-14T16:04:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/1 "2013-03-14T16:04:46Z")
If you knew your life was just about over, what would you do to get the attention of the world? How would you announce your passing, and get your name into the history books, at least as a footnote? How would you go out with a bang, not a whimper? ---
**Author:** ![thatguyjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6de8d8/32.png) [@thatguyjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thatguyjeff)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/2 "2013-03-14T16:40:00Z")
I suppose the “easiest” way to do it would be to cause a lot of harm. I’m not about to do anything like that. I can’t really think of anything I could reasonably do (given my current means) that would capture the attention of many - even if for a short time. I’m quite content to leave this world rather uneventfully. ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/3 "2013-03-14T17:59:23Z")
I am with Thatguyjeff. No big deal needs to be made. I have lived a full and eventful life. While my family will probably miss me, and, as I have never wanted to be famous in my life, I see no reason to be famous in my death. That said, assuming that my body parts would not be usable for harvesting to help out some other poor soul, and, if my country needed some one to go on a suicide mission, then I would volenteer. Otherwise I would probably just buy an old canoe or kayak and just paddle out to sea one fine morning. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/4 "2013-03-14T18:38:06Z")
If my life was just about over then I wouldn’t have the energy to do it but I’ve sometimes fantasized about packing it all in, catching a flight to the European mainland and trying to walk up and over the Arctic via the north pole and down into Canada and America. You’d never make it but it would be interesting to see how far you’d get, and can you imagine the TV deals and minor celebrity if you _did_ make it! But don’t worry, I’m not going to act on it. Probably… ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/5 "2013-03-14T19:11:49Z")
So, “murder spree” isn’t everyone’s answer? Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/6 "2013-03-14T19:26:05Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > So, “murder spree” isn’t everyone’s answer? Huh. “You have 6 months to live” - rat-a-tat-tat. Wait - you’re John B Public, not John D Public? Well, you’ve still got 6 months to live (not that a death penalty actually ever gets implemented that quicky). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/7 "2013-03-14T19:38:23Z")
Make sure my organ donor status was well known and then go off myself at a transplant capable hospital, documentation strewn about the room. I like to recycle. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/8 "2013-03-14T19:46:37Z")
Nothing. Why should the world be especially concerned about my existence or my passing? I’m merely one of seven billion, who are all equally important. I guess I’m just not very egotistical. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/9 "2013-03-14T19:59:15Z")
I’m not really an attention seeker. But I suppose that if I was, then becoming a supervillian, torching a major landmark (maybe the Statue of Liberty or Mount Rushmore), and then being killed by the Hero would do it. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/10 "2013-03-14T20:47:31Z")
There’s a certain bridge I’d launch from, but only _after_ the local ABC affiliate shows up, they show [anything](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_dwyer) (read the last sentence in the first paragraph. Yup, they showed the whole act on the early news, only pulling the ending from later editions due to negative feedback.) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/11 "2013-03-14T20:54:50Z")
I’d stay behind on the asteroid to detonate the nuke and save the whole of humanity from certain destruction. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/12 "2013-03-14T23:11:30Z")
nothing. why the hell would I care? Once I’m dead, I’m not going to be able to find out what anyone thinks of me. I really, seriously, don’t get the obsession some people have with their “legacy.” There are 7 billion people on this planet, which doesn’t count the people who have already run their course. Nobody gives a shit about you. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/13 "2013-03-14T23:35:50Z")
If I had to go out with a bang, I would steal one of those large cargo planes, fill it to the brim with the most spectacular fireworks, and fly it the mouth of an erupting volcano. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/14 "2013-03-14T23:36:28Z")
I would call TMZ and tell them about Justin Bieber’s fetish for old men who collect guns. And the three-way that he had with me and my dog at The Republican convention last year. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/15 "2013-03-15T01:24:19Z")
> [@Disposable Hero](#): > > . . . trying to walk up and over the Arctic via the north pole and down into Canada and America. > > You’d never make it but it would be interesting to see how far you’d get . . . I like this! I’m more of a desert bloke than an arctic bloke, so, pack up some supplies and head out across Death Valley. It’s gotta be a better way to die than from most fatal diseases, eh? But, no, screw mass murder. And screw taking a shot at a politician or celebrity. Who wants to be remembered for years and years – always with a sneer? Yeah, we’ll always remember John Wilkes Booth – and ptui on him! Famous…and a goddamn dork. Such remembrance we do not want! How about liquidate all your assets, and go to Las Vegas, and put everything on “Red” at the roulette table? That’s memorable, either way! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/16 "2013-03-15T01:25:28Z")
I figure I’ll book one of those commercial spaceflights, eject myself, burn up on re-entry and truly give the world a blaze of glory. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/17 "2013-03-15T02:40:45Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > How about liquidate all your assets, and go to Las Vegas, and put everything on “Red” at the roulette table? That’s memorable, either way! Been there, [done that](http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Gambler-sells-all-that-he-owns-and-bets-on-red-1972549.php). ---
**Author:** ![Jan\_John\_Cobham\_Salad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Jan\_John\_Cobham\_Salad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jan_John_Cobham_Salad)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/18 "2013-03-15T03:52:58Z")
I would live the finality of my life off meds and manic as all hell, starting the first week of May, creating a firestorm of music, art, media and writing to leave behind. I would literally kill myself through raging devotion to the arts, because as mania tends to do, I would barely eat or sleep and would likely ingest copious amounts of drugs all the while. It wouldn’t take more than a month or two before one of the many potentially fatal scenarios took hold…but I’d probably go out like Jaco Pastorius, sadly enough. You’d be surprised just how much you can create in that state of mind in a short period of time. There would be some unintelligible crap and incoherence in there, mostly with the writing…but there would also be some guaranteed pure gold, more with the music and art. Maybe something catches on, maybe it doesn’t…what the hell do I care, I’m dead. But that’s how I’d go out if I were to plan such a thing. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/19 "2013-03-15T04:00:49Z")
Are those trips planned for Mars return, or one-way? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927/20 "2013-03-15T05:48:41Z")
For obscure footnote death: To date, ALL fatal jumpers from the Golden Gate Bridge have jumped from the east (bay) side, near the south (closer to city) tower. There is now a hiccup: pedestrians are limited to the ineer sidewalk, the outer is reserved for bicycles. If you want die, you probably won’t mind blocking traffic one last time and hopping over two handrails. Be the first to jump from the north tower, ocean side - facing a sunset. Blaze - probably fly a small plane loaded with napalm (wonder if that DIY formula actually works) into/onto some high (unimproved, uninhabited, non-flammable - this is about me, not other schmucks - let them find their own exits strategies) point visible from a large metropolis. Again - with a glorious sunset. For maximum coverage, have a sunset - people love to shoot sunsets, so lots of cameras will be ready. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-out-in-a-blaze-of-glory/652927.md?page=2)