Definitely. Now this idiot is free to run around and do this again. Sure, maybe he won’t, but it’s a risk I’d rather not take.
Exactly. When I turned 19, I drank a fair share myself, but never did I entertain the notion of driving while in that state. Though if I were stupid enough to, I’d rather have taken myself out than some innocent other.
<Raises hand>
Yeah, yeah, great Christmas story. Next year, when the jackass does it again and turns someone’s little kid into a street pizza… not quite so charming.
But hey, maybe this will be the experience that makes this guy turn his life around. And in related news, I hear Santa’s giving out unicorns to all the good little boys and girls.
What Triskadecamus posted was perfectly clear. You and the OP show no tolerance for the mistakes that others make in the process of being human. You cannot understand the message because the scales have not fallen from your hate-filled eyes. If you want to live in a world where people don’t recklessly put others lives at risk, start packing, dude.
Okay, that’s pretty much what I thought. You’d prefer him dead.
So why is it such an unreasonable conclusion for me to come to—that you’d prefer all drunk drivers to die rather than be “free to run around and do this again.” (Though of course you don’t know that they’ll ever do it again.) How is that so different from wishing a death penalty upon all drunk drivers? I really don’t see much distinction.
With’s with the hostility? Frankly, I have a lot of tolerance for other’s mistakes, but driving so drunk that you pass out is inexcusable. I don’t care if you disagree with me, but that’s no reason to refer to me as someone who hates everything.
God forbid I don’t want to witness yet horribile accident where some kid is smeared across the pavement. Shame on me!
Drunk driving is one of the most preventable actions anyone could take, and the fact that anyone is willing to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, I find to be deeply disturbing. I’m not saying I want this guy dead; I just don’t want him driving any more. However, he’s already proven himself to have minimal common sense and even less regard for the well being of other’s. This selfishness is what could have gotten somebody else killed. Because of this, had he died, I would not shed a tear. Better he take his own like than someone else’s.
Define “drunk driver”; that’s a very generic term. Do all drunk drivers pass out and crash their vehicle into a canal? No, they do not. That’s the distinction; this guy was so wasted he had no control over himself or his own vehicle.
Now let me ask you a simple yes or no question, would you rather him dead or give him the chance to make the same mistake again? This guy is not some innocent citizen who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He made some inexcusable, but entirely preventable decisions that we’re lucky didn’t result in the death of another.
When those mistakes could kill other people? Yeah, not so much with the tolerance, there. Call me kooky.
You just agreed that you wished that the McDonald’s worker had failed in saving this guy’s life. (You answered my yes or no question with “Definitely.”) That pretty much the same as “wanting” him dead.
<< Raises right hand >>
Listen, we can play these little “define exactly what you mean” games all day. I don’t “want” anyone dead; though it’s the better of the two alternatives that he dies rather than repeating the same mistake again.
As he has been saved, I don’t “want” him dead anymore. I just wish there were some way to ensure he never drives again. Break his legs maybe? It’s a small price to pay.
They’re all drunk enough to not have control of their car, and as such, they’re a menace and a risk to other people.
I don’t want someone dead for something they haven’t done.
If I was psychic and knew the future and knew that if he lived, he’d kill someone behind the wheel, sure, I’d want him dead. But since I don’t know what is in his future, and since almost everyone has made a choice or taken an action that could result in someone else’s death, then no, I can’t possibly want everyone dead for something they’ve never done, may never do. If they’ve got a pattern of risking others’ lives, if they’ve expressed intent to behave rashly, then my desire to get them to stop (even if it means them no longer breathing oxygen) would be very strong.
But I know jack shit about this guy. Jack shit. I have no idea what his potential is, his prospects, what his future will be. I can’t wish death (as you’ve already conceded that you do) on a complete stranger who has been given a second chance at life, and for all I know, may really turn it around. Maybe his family, social worker, parole officer—whoever—maybe they know that he’d be better off dead because he’s high risk at re-offending, but I sure as hell don’t.
You agreed that you were disappointed that the McDonalds guy saved his life. No one forced to to make that statement. I only assume you say what you mean.
Nothing’s changed. We’re arguing over trivial word issues here. I’d still rather him dead, ok? Can you please stop patronizing me? We’re not in the pit.
Frankly, I’m surprised my opinion has upset you this much. What we’re dealing with is someone who could have killed another. Forgive me for wanting to prevent more accidents than what we already see on the news.
To quote someone I know, “It was a simple yes or no question.”
At least have the courtesy to practice what you preach, eh?
I thought my answer was as clear as yours—no. Did you seriously think that my answer was “yes”? Yes, I wish death on him? Were you somehow unclear on that? Get serious now.
No, I can’t wish someone dead for something they have never (as far as we know) done, and for something that I have no idea (either way) that they’ll ever do in the future. Not without more information, no. I reserve the right to NOT wish death on a stranger, whom I know nothing about, other than they screwed up big time but may never screw up again (or not). Someone who is more familiar with that person may be totally justified—with the information that they have—in wishing death on this indivdual. But I ain’t that person. Not without a little more information, at least.
Yeah, we get it. You’d prefer him dead, you’d rather he be dead, you’re disappointed that the McDonald’s guy saved him. But somehow that doesn’t translate to “wishing” him dead. Oh yeah. Big distinction there.
Then quit asking, or making such declarations as “no one forced to to make that statement,” which serves as nothing more than a bandwidth hog. The reason I took issue with the “want” term was because you’re making it sound as if I go around “wishing” death upon those whose actions I don’t approve of, when nothing could be further from the truth. Without the aid of the McDonald’s worker this guy would have died because of his own actions. Boo-hoo. The world would be a slightly safer place.
Anyways, I’m done discussing this with you as our progress has ceased. We’d just continue to run around in this circular logic marathon when it’s clear neither of us are budging from our positions.
I just hope you feel similarly; perhaps an issue we can both agree upon, hmm?
The hostility isn’t coming from me-check out the man in the mirror. I didn’t say you hate everything. Your inability to understand posts by Triskadecamus and me both indicate your reading comprehension could use summer study.
No one wants a child killed in a MV accident-but that didn’t happen in this case, so why introduce it?
As for the rest of your post, should you ever make a mistake which you deeply regret, I hope a jury of 12 equally hard-hearted individuals deliberate your fate, and while serving your sentence, you might have an epiphany regarding compassion in justice.
You’re right, telling me I have “hate-filled eyes” isn’t at all akin to my interpretation of it.
Because it’s an entirely plausible scenario. In this kid, the “kid” being represenative of anyone who could have obstructed the path to the canal. Just because it didn’t happen doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
The reason you took issue with “want” is because it sounds somehow more raw—more bad—to you. But that’s how you’ve been sounding to many of the rest of us all along. “Want,” “wish,” “prefer.” Two are feelings that you embrace but the third isn’t? Please. They boil down to pretty much the same thing.