I started thinking about this when I read the story of the guy shot while standing in line for a Playstation 3. He refused to hand over his money and caught a bullet.
More recently in Toronto, a young athlete left a bar on Saturday night to go to an ATM. He was sucker punched after he left the ATM and robbed. He went back to the bar to get some friends, went down an alley to find the guy, only to get hit by a brick to the head. He died in hospital.
Personally, when I was young, I worked at a 7-11 convenience store and was robbed. Employees were plainly told that resistance to a robbery was a firing offense and that the money was not worth fighting over. That stuck with me.
If you were robbed, and you thought that there was a chance you could fight it, would you? Would you risk injury or death to save a couple of bucks? A hundred bucks? A thousand?
Personally, I wouldn’t. But clearly others would.
Now that I support a wife and kids, its even more clear to me. I would risk my life to protect my families safety, or even a stranger’s safety.
I once dragged a guy out of a building that was on fire because he insisted on fighting it with every fire extinguisher there. He and I were the last ones there, there wasn’t much visible flame, but we knew the fire was in a wall/crawlspace and not easiily accessable and the smoke was building up. I was ready to throw in the towel as I expected the fire trucks to roll up any minute. I was happy to try and preserve his life, but I wouldn’t risk my life or even injury to save bricks and mortar. Firefighters have equipment and training and a team to back them up.
I’m not risk averse, but I do consider life’s risks and decide which risks to take and which to avoid.
What do you think?
James
