During our American History class, on Friday, the topic of Nuclear war came up. The question, more specifically, was how long would it take for a Nuclear missile to get from Russia to the good ol’ U S of A. We figured it out to be 13 minutes.
Our teacher, The best there is, thought that this would be a good time to ask the all-mighty question, “If we found out a nuclear warhead was coming straight for Brainerd, MN right when it was launched, how would you spend your last 13 minutes on Earth?” we went around the room, and I was last to answer. all of the answers before mine were “I’d steal the fastest car I could, and drive away from Brainerd as fast as I could” or “I’d dig a hole and bury myself, so I could escape the blast”
When the question came to me, I thought about it for a second, and then slowly answered, “I do believe I would get a couple of good friends, meet on the top of my office-building (downtown brainerd, and somewhat tall) grab a case of beer, pass them around, and watch the fireworks.” everyone looked at me, jaws agape, and I had to explain to them that I wouldn’t WANT to see what happens to brainerd after a 200Megaton warhead lands. I’d want to die as fast as I could, and not have to suffer from the radiation of the fallout.
so, I was just wondering, what would YOUR response to the question, “if there was a nuclear warhead coming straight for your town, and you had 15 (we’ll round up) minutes left to live, what would you do?”
A good mood – I’d strip my clothes and put all cotton white clothes on and get as far underground as possible. If I survived, I’d try to get over to the medical center and help out (I do the med school thing on occasion). I’m pretty good at stitching and I suppose I could triage by blood pressure.
A bad mood, or a realistic mood – if I couldn’t find my wife, I’d watch NBC until New York melts, and then CNN until Atlanta melts.
Suppose the car you get can go a maximum of 120 MPH. It’d take you several minutes to find the car and actually get going. Then it’d take you several minutes to actually get on a highway and skedaddle…
So let’s say that gives you, oh, 8 minutes of really fast driving. That’ll put you about 16 miles away by the time the blast goes off… that’s not a very good margin of error. Either way, you’re going to get a good deal of radiation.
[nitpick]Well if they were gonna steal a fast car I’d be damned sure to steal more than some 4 banger (most 4-cylinders nowadays will do 120 easy). Say he picks a decent 6 cylinder which will probably run to a top speed of 140’ish. That’s give 8 minutes of driving time then s/he’ll be 18.6 miles away. Hell in that situation I’d grab a car with at least a stock v-8 which tops at 160’ish. That’ll put you at 21.3 miles away. Either way if I were that panicked I’d grab a faster car and get a little less radiation from the ordeal.[/nitpick]
Now what I’d really do is just sit and chill. Hell I’d probably drive into the blast.
I’d be hugging my family and letting them know how much I love them. Unless I am HERE of course, then I’d just be standing out in the open and thanking God for a prayer answered.
I’d go get some good fast food, really quick, for a last meal. Then, I’d find the tallest building I could get to quickly. I’d climb to the roof, wait until the missle was about 2 seconds away, and jump.
I’ve always wondered what the fall would be like. And I’d probably be vaporized before I hit the ground, so I wouldn’t have to worry about all that unpleasantness.
15 min till a virtually painless death and instant death?
well I think that gives me just enough time to run to my fire escape, run down the fire escape run to the beach and swim into the ocean. I’d get about 10 minutes of good swimming before the boom. Why would I do that? I have no idea.
I think the OP makes the clear implication that there’s no escape, so those of you with the fast cars and digging-holes ideas aren’t in the proper spirit of things.
If I had fifteen or fewer minutes to live, I’d get on the cordless phone and call everyone to let them know I love them. Not just family and close friends (who know I love them anyway), but coworkers, ex-girlfriends…
Wait a minute. One of my ex-girlfriends lives just three miles south of me. New idea: I’d go for a last-minute (literally) booty call. Since presumably we all know our number’s up, I bet she’d be receptive.
And I’d leave the door open when I left. Finally my cats will be allowed to play outside.
If family and friends weren’t around to say goodbye to, I would strip down, buck naked and walk casually down the street carrying nothing but a parasol. I’ve always wanted to do this, but never wanted to face the repercussions. I’d smile at passerbys, who more than likely will be panicked, and simply say, “Good day to ya.”
Assuming that there was no chance for real escape (but also assuming there was enough pre-launch warning to give me time to travel 27 blocks), I’d go up to my boyfriend’s apartment, and probably bring my pets with me. We would grab some takeout (again, if there was pre-launch time-- if not, perhaps some Pop-Tarts) and settle in to watch a movie like we always do. I think I’d also give him a back rub. Just another quiet evening spent together, really.
