# Save your mother or significant other? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878 "2015-09-28T22:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/1 "2015-09-28T22:24:52Z")
This was a question on [China’s national judicial exam](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-34377611), which must be passed to practice law in China. The situation is there’s a fire in a building in which are trapped your mother and your significant other (that is, romantic partner - boyfriend, fiance, wife etc.). You have a strong feeling you’ll only have time to save one. Which one do you save? The ‘correct’ answer according to the exam is your mother. I want to see how many agree. If you don’t have a mother or S.O., use your imagination and remember; fighting the hypothetical is counter-revolutionary! Questions are decadent! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/2 "2015-09-28T22:32:09Z")
Interesting thread / OP name combo. I cheat so I can save both of them. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/3 "2015-09-28T22:35:02Z")
My wife is also 50% of my kids’ parents so, sorry Mom… ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/4 "2015-09-28T22:37:17Z")
My Mom’s dead, so it’s an easy choice. ---
**Author:** ![brovolone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e4f/32.png) [@brovolone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brovolone)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/5 "2015-09-28T22:50:09Z")
SO can save himself. I choose Mom. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/6 "2015-09-28T22:59:48Z")
My wife, and I’m sure my mom (who I love deeply) would agree. Once I married, my paramount responsibility passed on to my immediate family - my children and my wife. They’re my household, and they’re the ones I must tend to first. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/7 "2015-09-28T23:19:08Z")
This isn’t even a question. Bye, Mom! ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/8 "2015-09-28T23:28:46Z")
With even a passing knowledge of Chinese culture, the “correct” answer is pretty obvious. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/9 "2015-09-28T23:36:48Z")
I love my mother, but my husband needs to be here for the kid. FWIW, I would guess Chinese law students are probably on the younger side and less likely to be married-- it’s only recently that undergrads were allowed to be married, and it is still something that generally isn’t done. So we are more likely talking about a girlfriend/boyfriend than a spouse you are raising kids with. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/10 "2015-09-28T23:39:00Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > My wife, and I’m sure my mom (who I love deeply) would agree. > > Once I married, my paramount responsibility passed on to my immediate family - my children and my wife. They’re my household, and they’re the ones I must tend to first. This. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/11 "2015-09-29T00:26:46Z")
I voted mother. After all, there are a lot of potential significant others out there, but only one Mom. She is unique and irreplaceable. Of course, if the situation came up, Mom would probably kick me in the balls and tell me not to be an idiot-go get the significant other. But my call is for Mom. I am not Asian BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/12 "2015-09-29T00:37:38Z")
I am just the wrong person for this poll. Assuming my mother were alive (she’s not) I would save almost anybody else at her expense. As a mother, I hope that my sons would save their wives first. One of them’s still unmarried, I guess he can save me, but he shouldn’t feel he HAS to. Guess I won’t be practicing law in China… ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/13 "2015-09-29T00:49:19Z")
I would save YOU before I would save my mother. I don’t wish her any harm but she tried to do me in a couple times and I had to live with relatives for a while when I was a kid to keep safe; that and she’s older than heck. So if its her, or someone I know, she loses. Her and a complete stranger and its a coin flip. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/14 "2015-09-29T00:50:12Z")
I love my mom, she gave birth to me and raised me, etc. But she’s got almost 70 years of life under her belt. My wife is still a young woman with two very young children who need her. I choose to spend my life with and to grow old with my wife, not my mother. I would do almost anything to save my mom, but not at the expense of my wife and kids. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/15 "2015-09-29T00:55:06Z")
Mom has lived a full life. SO is only half way done. So I’ll go with the cold logic reasoning. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/16 "2015-09-29T00:58:36Z")
A no-brainer for me. My mother was the meanest, most hateful bitch west of the Mississippi River, who exalted in making people miserable. She may or may not be alive, but if I found her trapped in a burning building, I’d nail extra boards across the door to make sure she couldn’t get out. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/17 "2015-09-29T00:58:57Z")
The cat! And I’m only half joking. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/18 "2015-09-29T01:08:11Z")
I’m not sure I would even bother to save myself. To answer the question, I would save my mother because my daughter is very close to her. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/19 "2015-09-29T01:13:14Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > A no-brainer for me. My mother was the meanest, most hateful bitch west of the Mississippi River, who **exalted** in making people miserable. She may or may not be alive, but if I found her trapped in a burning building, I’d nail extra boards across the door to make sure she couldn’t get out. Naturally, I meant “exulted.” :o ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878/20 "2015-09-29T01:15:53Z")
I really doubt that is a real exam question. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-your-mother-or-significant-other/732878.md?page=2)