# Some people are too damn stupid to live! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227 "2008-09-12T04:58:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AllWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@AllWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllWalker)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/41 "2008-09-13T07:00:40Z")
But don’t you see? Name ONE incident where someone who has had faith in God has died… or had any misfortune befall them at all. Yeah that’s right. Never happened. If I were God\* and I wanted to save someone in particular, then the early warning method would suffice. I’m not going to swoop down like Superman and deflect waves and debris from these retards. If anyone did stay behind expecting me to save them… well, let’s just say I like the OP’s tentacle idea. \*I just love any argument which starts off with me saying that phrase. As if I have a bloody clue what a god even does. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/42 "2008-09-13T07:22:38Z")
> [@AllWalker](#): > > If I were God\* and I wanted to save someone in particular, then the early warning method would suffice. I’m not going to swoop down like Superman and deflect waves and debris from these retards. If anyone did stay behind expecting me to save them… well, let’s just say I like the OP’s tentacle idea. If I were God, I’d probably be wondering why the masochistic ants think I’m going to save them. Why do they think I sent a hurricane in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/43 "2008-09-13T08:07:32Z")
let’s change the city to an apartment building that is on fire. The Alarms have gone off. There is pleanty of time to escape. People who refuse to leave their 9th story apartments (after all the warnings) should be conent to burn… Its somewhat sad that they took their offspring with them, but think of it as evolution in action. FML ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/44 "2008-09-13T22:05:18Z")
> [@Pixilated](#): > > True… but, they are putting the lives of THEIR CHILDREN in danger. That’s my point. I’m a firm believer in personal freedom and personal responsibility. Do whatever you want so long as it only impacts you and any other consenting adult. You want to play russian roulette? No problem. I’ll even sell you the gun and a bullet. But when you want to point the gun at your child I’m going to take issue. [QUOTE=asterion] For what it’s worth, I got it. What’s that in R? [/QUOTE] [419.67](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature_measurement). [QUOTE=Wile E] I was actually hoping it would be a rant about all the news stations telling us to evacuate and hunker down and then sending reporters out to capture the storm on film. … I really think they are all hoping to be the first to capture their own reporters on film getting sliced in two by a flying street sign. [/QUOTE] That’s actually my fondest desire when I see that sort of newscast. Exactly how long would the be the most watched youtube video? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/45 "2008-09-13T23:43:40Z")
The laws may be different in Texas, but over here, people who stay in mandatory evacuation zones are actually arrested and hauled off to shelters if they refuse to leave. That’s what “mandatory evacuation” means here and, IMO, what it _should_ mean everywhere. ETA: The result is that mandatory evacuation zones are like ghost towns here. You’ll never see a family strolling around in front of a burning house during a wildfire here. One or two nutjobs stay too long, but they usually learn the importance of haste w real quickly hen the handcuffs come out. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/46 "2008-09-13T23:48:45Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > The laws may be different in Texas, but over here, people who stay in mandatory evacuation zones are actually arrested and hauled off to shelters if they refuse to leave. That’s what “mandatory evacuation” means here and, IMO, what it _should_ mean everywhere. > > ETA: The result is that mandatory evacuation zones are like ghost towns here. You’ll never see a family strolling around in front of a burning house during a wildfire here. One or two nutjobs stay too long, but they usually learn the importance of haste w real quickly hen the handcuffs come out. Dunno about that. Personally, I’ve found that first-responder types around here are generally busy enough helping the people who _do_ want to leave. What do they issue mandatory evacuation orders for in Southern California other than wildfires, by the way? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/47 "2008-09-14T00:20:46Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > For what it’s worth, I got it. What’s that in R? Someone actually uses R? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/48 "2008-09-14T00:23:28Z")
Nothing, I assume. San Diego has never been the victim of a major earthquake, and if it were, evacuation would be both impossible and dangerous. Mudslides can do some damage here, but again, they’re instantaneous enough that by the time an evacuation could be ordered, it wouldn’t do any good. As for wildfires, by the time mandatory evacuations are ordered, most people have left the neighborhood and there’s still plenty of time for the rest to get out. AFAIK, getting the willing out of mandatory evacuation areas in the case of a wildfire here isn’t really an issue that comes up, unless someone’s disabled and has no one to help, or someone is already in a fire. There’s a lot of room for improvement in the prevention and handling of wildfires here, on the state and local levels, but one thing they always get right is timing the evacuation orders so that people can get out in time to save themselves. Of course, the tragedy is that wildfires aren’t 100% predictable by nature, and people do get hurt when the fire takes an unexpected turn, but there’s not much that can be done about that. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/49 "2008-09-14T02:22:19Z")
Perhaps the children will be able to float atop the bloated corpses of their parents. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/50 "2008-09-14T04:47:03Z")
In similar Alaskan emergencies the new rule is that you put a bounty on survivors who refused to evacuate and shoot them from a helicopter. I forget which appendage you are supposed to bring in as proof. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/51 "2008-09-14T04:56:32Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > The river’s flooding and a man stays in his house. A cop comes by and offers him a ride to safety. ‘God will save me,’ he says. The water rises and he climbs to his roof. A man comes by in a boat and offers him a ride to dry land. ‘God will save me,’ says the man on the roof. The water has risen to the top of the chimney, the man perched on top. A helicopter flies over and lowers a cable and harness. The man waves the helicopter off, shouting ‘God will save me!’ The water takes the man and he drowns. He finds himself in Heaven and talks to God. ‘God, I had faith in you! I thought you would save me! But you let me die!’ God says to the man, ‘I sent you a car, a boat, and a helicopter! What the hell did you want?’ One of my fave jokes and the reason I am a “recovering baptist”. Mind you, I’m still a believer in God, I just refuse to be part of a religion, and baptists seem to embody the worst of this trait, that basically believes we don’t have to use our brains because “God will protect us”. [snarky fairy godmother/Sam Kinnisen voice] Yes dear, he Will, because he wants to you live, and in order for you to do that, he Gave you FREAAAAAKING BRAINS!!! ARRRGGGGGHHH GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH [/sfgskv] I WOULD have liked for you to have been able to see the wave complete with fins and tentacles, except those kids are still innocent and might have a chance. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/52 "2008-09-14T05:03:56Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > shoot them from a helicopter. Do they get to wear a parachute? Or is this a cannonball-type thing? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/53 "2008-09-14T05:07:31Z")
God helps those who help themselves. The rest are potential Darwin Award winners. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/54 "2008-09-14T10:03:52Z")
> [@Hostile\_Dialect](#): > > The laws may be different in Texas, but over here, people who stay in mandatory evacuation zones are actually arrested and hauled off to shelters if they refuse to leave. That’s what “mandatory evacuation” means here and, IMO, what it _should_ mean everywhere. I do not think the government should be able to arrest people who haven’t done anything wrong, even if it’s in their own interest. If they’re endangering their children it’s one thing, but to me the idea of giving the government that kind of power is worse than letting people get themselves killed. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/55 "2008-09-14T16:43:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Paul and Kathi Norton overslept as Hurricane Ike closed in on their home in Crystal Beach, Texas. So they decided to tough it out. As the storm battered the house it began to collapse. “We dove out the door and grabbed the staircase and we floated off,” Kathi Norton said. Source:[http://www.cnn.com/](http://www.cnn.com/) Whaaat? **Paul and Kathi Norton overslept as Hurricane Ike closed in on their home …** Beam me up, Scotty. There really is no intelligent life here. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/56 "2008-09-14T22:49:51Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > I do not think the government should be able to arrest people who haven’t done anything wrong, even if it’s in their own interest. If they’re endangering their children it’s one thing, but to me the idea of giving the government that kind of power is worse than letting people get themselves killed. They _have_ done something wrong. I’m fiercely small-L libertarian, but the fact is that the idiots who stick around in mandatory evacuation zones get in the firefighters’ way. Mandatory evacuation zones are created not just to keep residents safe, although that’s obviously the major motivator, but to give the trained firefighters room to work. Mavericks standing on their lawns with hoses, and wannabe reporters checking out the fire, just damage the effort to control the damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/57 "2008-09-15T17:19:08Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Dunno about that. Personally, I’ve found that first-responder types around here are generally busy enough helping the people who _do_ want to leave. > > What do they issue mandatory evacuation orders for in Southern California other than wildfires, by the way? Tsunamis. Red tagged houses after earthquakes, or prone to potential land or mudslides. I also recall back in the 80s that Mammoth Mountain was thought to be on the verge of eruption, but I don’t think it lead to mandatory evacuations, but I think emergency officials were talking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/58 "2008-09-15T17:28:14Z")
I heard an interview with one woman who’d ridden out the storm on Galveston Island with her kids. She said she’d have evacuated if it had become a Cat 3. (All it took was for the wind to go up ONE mph for it to become a Cat 3!) As it was, they stayed put, and her daughter got so frightened by the howling winds that she started vomiting. So what did the mom do? Drugged her up on Benadryl so she’d sleep through the rest of the storm. :smack: Way to both induce PTSD in your kid there, lady, not to mention if you _had_ gotten washed out, the kid probably would have drowned because she was unconscious thanks to dear old Mom! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/59 "2008-09-15T23:57:06Z")
Someday I really really want them to automatically replace the phone message in these kinds of emergencies; boop boop beep (that really annoying ear splitting three toned crap) _We’re sorry, but you’re an idiot and you’re going to die. Had you not been completely clueless, you would not be listening to this message. Good bye._ When that day comes that **Fabulous Creature** takes over the world and I creep up behind him, take him out and take his place, there will be no rescue efforts made for the Terminally Stupid. “Help, help, we’re trapped in (city x)!” _“Didn’t we tell you to leave?”_ “Well yeah, but (excuses and pleas)” _“Tough shit. You decided to ‘risk it’ and you lost. Any last words?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227/60 "2008-09-16T00:39:21Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Whaaat? > > **Paul and Kathi Norton overslept as Hurricane Ike closed in on their home …** 😛 You couldn’t make it up. _ **beep beep beep beep beep** _ “Nnnh? whassat? Alarm… oh ffs…” _hits snooze button_ ----3 hours later---- “Er, honey, weren’t we supposed to get up early for something?” “Uh… yeah, can’t remember…” _opens curtains_ _100mph wind blows wall of water through bedroom_ :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-people-are-too-damn-stupid-to-live/463227.md?page=4)