# You're Going to be Executed- How do you want it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 12, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330 "2005-12-12T23:00:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/1 "2005-12-12T23:00:18Z")
This is something that I have, oddly enough, put some thought into. Let’s say you are going to be executed for some reason; you did the crime and have exhausted all means of attempting to show otherwise. The judge decides that you are going to be put to death, but you can choose the way. Any way you want, 'cept naturally of course ;). What do you pick? Personally, I’d be torn between something really cool that would go down in the history books (“Diosabellissima- Ripped Apart By Great White Sharks”-- Ok, maybe not that, but something equally cool) or something that wouldn’t hurt much (drinking some poison, etc.). I think I would pick to be shot, just once, by a really good marksman. If he knows what’s up, he could kill me instantly. I’d also prefer that the shooter sneaks up on me, that way I have no idea that it is coming (I remember reading about hangings happening like this way back when-- hell if I remember where, though. They’d bring the person in, pretend that they were fitting them for the execution the next day, and drop the floor out from under 'em). ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/2 "2005-12-12T23:03:27Z")
Bullet in the head while I am asleep. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/3 "2005-12-12T23:03:29Z")
Sexual exhaustion. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/4 "2005-12-12T23:04:36Z")
Beath by Oonga Boonga! ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/5 "2005-12-12T23:05:37Z")
Death by Oonga Boonga! ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/6 "2005-12-12T23:11:05Z")
An overdose of general anaesthetic. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/7 "2005-12-12T23:18:15Z")
Slow acting poison. Say, like, eighty years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/8 "2005-12-12T23:27:57Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > Death by Oonga Boonga! Oh noes! Not twice! Gimme 5 liters of nice red wine and smash me in the back of my head with a sledge hammer when I’m unconscious. Or, better yet, put me to work cleaning up the radioactive area of a reactor and then, when I’m totally contaminated strap about 15 pounds of C4 plastic explosive to me and turn me loose in Neverland! ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/9 "2005-12-12T23:37:27Z")
If they wouldn’t let me pick Death By Old Age, I’d then opt for a firing squad. Quick, final, and I’d have the option of telling them I didn’t want the damn cigarette and to hell with the blindfold. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/10 "2005-12-12T23:40:56Z")
Apparently drowning is a really relaxing way to die once you stop panicking. Not sure I could handle the panic, though. I’d say drinking poison - no pain, no needles. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/11 "2005-12-12T23:41:07Z")
I hear exsanguination is pretty painless if you have something to numb the cuts. Plus that’s a cool word. “Exsanguination.” ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/12 "2005-12-12T23:41:31Z")
First choice: fugu. Second choice: a Rube Goldberg device, so I’d have something interesting to watch just at it happens. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/13 "2005-12-12T23:45:09Z")
Bullet to the head while awake cause I want to see the end. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/14 "2005-12-12T23:51:24Z")
C-4 explosive headband. I reckon that the shockwave would travel through my brain faster than could the “Oh Shit!” thought impulse. It would also be very messy which serves those executioners right. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/15 "2005-12-13T00:14:18Z")
I always kinda liked the one in **Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.** Failing that, then like Slim Pickens in **Dr. Strangelove** , as long as I get to pick the target. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/16 "2005-12-13T00:16:16Z")
“Smothered in the flesh of Italian actresses”–Woody Allen ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/17 "2005-12-13T00:28:19Z")
The heat death of the universe ought to do it for me, with a nice sushi dinner as my final meal. If they simply won’t wait that long, I’d go for falling from a tall height. That’d give me a decent amount of time to see if I can figure out how to fly… and, failing that, there wouldn’t be any time for pain upon impact. Oh, and a sushi dinner beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/18 "2005-12-13T00:35:21Z")
Guillotining has a certain “upper class” panache. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/19 "2005-12-13T00:37:41Z")
Haha! I’d like it to be a random day, but definitely this week; that way they couldn’t kill me at all. Seriously. Lethal injection or something quiet like that. ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2005, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330/20 "2005-12-13T00:38:14Z")
I’m torn (no pun intended) between the easy death, and a messy death that will expose the ultimate brutality of any death sentence. The messy death should be something that punishes society as much as possible. How about being strapped to a table, and killed by the judge & jury, utilizing only plastic spoons. That should traumatize everyone enough. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-going-to-be-executed-how-do-you-want-it/335330.md?page=2)