Proud in the first scenario.
Kind of disappointed in the second. Not in the decision she made, but the fact that she didn’t run like hell after the first guy got shot.
But, I’m single so I don’t count. Thanks Skald
The reason I left no option for singles is that I wanted to hear from people thinking of their reactions to their actual spouses doing this, not spouses who don’t exist.
Oh ok. Fair enough. Still an interesting scenario though.
I’d be proud of my boyfriend for taking the bullet in scenario one. I’d mostly be angry at the sick fuck.
In the second scenario… I’d be grateful he was still alive, for sure. Viewed dispassionately, I’d think he made the morally incorrect choice, so to a certain extent I’d be disappointed in that, but not nearly as much as I’d be relieved to still have him. And I wouldn’t feel I was in any sort of a position to judge him for it, as I don’t know that I’d behave any more heroically in the same situation. At any rate, he’d already be beating the shit out of himself out of guilt as it is, he wouldn’t need my help with that. I’d do whatever I had to to support him through that, including lie through my teeth if he asked me if I thought he’d done the right thing.
I feel a great surge of pity for anybody who walks into a grocery store with my wife in it and fires his first shot into the air, because he’s going to eat a can of beans to the face before he can lower his weapon.
In both scenarios, I think my wife would have acted thusly before anybody got shot.
In the first scenario, I’d be proud as hell of my wife. (But also sick with fear at what had happened.)
In the first scenario … I’d feel a mixture of grateful that she’d stayed safe, and dismayed at her “cowardice” … and incredibly guilty for both feelings.
OK, in scenario two I voted for mixed emotions but, as glad as I was that he was alive, I don’t think I could ever love/respect him the same way again.
I’m single and voted anyway. Sue me.
ETA: To avoid the accusation of trolling, I will add that I voted honestly, substituting “my sister” (who exists) for “my spouse” who doesn’t.
This is a Skald thread. Single people never count.
Pride and anger, as per your poll.
Untrue. There is nothing stopping people from talking in the thread.
If I had started a poll entitled How well do you get along with your in-laws, would you want me to include an option for people who have never been married? Please explain your answer.
I voted proud in the first, dismayed in the second. My wife is a strong woman who I know would do the right thing in both scenarios. If she took actions like in the second scenario, I wouldn’t be able to ever look at her the same again, I doubt our marriage would survive. This world is screwed up enough as it is, and in my opinion, trending worse because so few people have the will to act to change it and do what’s right. Saving a child (or trying), there’s no debate there. None. You JUST DO IT. That so many people seem to believe otherwise to preserve what they have, which is of questionable value to me given what you’re willing to sacrifice for it, is downright disgusting to me.
My spouse would take a bullet willingly, about that, I have not the slightest doubt. And no way would he give up the kid, not a chance in hell. If he got killed for doing so I could not fault him for it, truly. I know him well enough to know he could not do otherwise, as it’s just not in him.
Whichever choice they made in either scenario, I would be 100% supportive, knowing this was a frightening and traumatic event. I could not fault a stranger whatever they decide, in such circumstances. I could be thinking, “Geeze, not what I would do maybe.” But I would find it exceedingly difficult to judge someone who is in this circumstance, whatever their actions or lack thereof. (Outside using old ladies and children as human shields, of course!)
As many here, my wife would take a bullet for any kid. As for the 2nd senario, not gonna happen. She would attack the gunman. Ever hear the saying “Not on my watch”? She is also a teacher, well actually a teachers aide in the special needs classroom.
I would be “Shaken to my roots” if she did anything else.
Count me with the majority. Incredibly proud of my wife in scenario one, and stunned - complete disbelief - at scenario two. The idea of her actually pointing out the location of the kid is so totally at odds with what I believe I know about my wife that I think I’d actually feel betrayed myself.
I wouldn’t dream of second-guessing my boyfriend’s decision in either scenario. I would just be grateful he lived. Having never encountered a murderous psycho in the flesh myself, I don’t think it’s my place to judge anyone’s reaction in that situation. At the end of the day, I’m really just happy my man is still alive after going through that. If he had died in either scenario, I would be very angry, but not at him. At the killer.
I have difficulty understanding why *anyone *would get mad at their partner in the 2nd scenario. This guy just demonstrated his willingness to murder random bystanders for not giving him what he wants. In the interests of not being murdered myself, I would almost certainly have done the exact same thing. Ideally, my boyfriend would have tried to lie and point the murderer toward the wrong bathroom or something, instead. But, with the rare exception of people who are really REALLY good at lying, there’s no reason to expect anyone to do that in such a stressful situation. And I wouldn’t fault him for doing what it took to stay alive.
The human survival instinct is stronger than anyone’s morality. And in a split-second life-or-death decision like that, anyone who would fault their partner’s decision is a judgmental short-sighted fool.
Speaking hypothetically, since I’m single, but I would be proud of any person who acted as in the first scenario, and ashamed of any person who acted as in the second. She should have been running. Towards the gun or away from it, either way, but she should have been running.
Where’s the option for “All the shoppers and store staff are armed and the guy gets thoroughly ventilated”?
How “cute” was the kid?
Leave out us singletons eh?
I’ll vote for your “Don’t vote here” and spit on your shoes!
Shine for a quarter sir?