So… have you killed anybody? Me - not that I’m aware of. Do you know anybody that killed anybody? A guy I dated killed somebody in the line of duty (military). And a classmate whom I never hung out with was put on trial for murder of his parents, but it’s a famously controversial case, so not sure about that… I’m assuming no one will come out and incriminate themselves for actual murder unless they have already served a sentence for it, but any stories are welcome. Especially with regards to that fictional trope of how “once you kill someone you are changed forever”. Is that true?
Not that I would personally kill a human (highest life form I’ve personally killed on purpose is a bug, highest due to possible neglect is a pet (debatable) and indirectly for food is a cow. Except given very unusual context. But I imagine if I was in an unusual context (self-defense, line of duty, etc) I would be able to compartmentalize, given extrapolation from feelings I’ve had about funerals I’ve been to. Or in the case that I became overly obsessed due to some feeling of responsibility, I imagine I’d try to make amends or perform some other positive action rather than torture myself about it.
I voted other; I have taken patients off life support multiple times leading to their death. All in accordance with the family and/or patient’s wishes of course.
On second thought (I voted "no)… perhaps kind of. During college, a bunch of friends and I were at a bar. This kid we went to high school with was there - drunk as hell and being annoying as fuck - and ultimately asked for a ride home. All of us (myself included) found a reason that we couldn’t. He ate a gun that night citing the “people don’t like me” thing.
We all felt like dicks, but it strikes me as though the suicide was inevitable… we just may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
When you are shelling someone you don’t necessarily know what happens at the other end to your particular shell, especially when there are others doing the same thing.
Earlier this year, just before she died shortly after her 90th birthday, my great aunt said “I’ve not been the same since that party you organised for me, Jim.” So, perhaps…
I thought that would be the most likely. My father was involved in an accident where a motorcyclist doing about 60mph in a built up area ran into his trailer and was killed. The motorcyclist was found to be entirely responsible, but still…
A guy I went to high school with supposedly slit a bartender’s throat because he wouldn’t cash a check. He seemed crazy to me at the time I knew him, so I don’t disbelieve it.
A girl I was friends with in high school was in an abusive relationship that would leave her bruised and crying all the time. Another friend and I were constantly trying to get her to bail, she finally did and the guy blew his head off on Christmas. I don’t think I killed him really, because someone who would kill themselves is probably just waiting for an excuse, but I was part of the catalyst. At least he didn’t go on to beat and torment anymore nice girls (or any girls).
I am. Anybody means “any person.” Non-human animals are not persons, not even the obviously-or-probably sapient ones like dogs, pigs, elephants, horses, and dolphins.
