Jim Floyd said: "In reading the replies, I am curious (and concerned) why there is tendency in this scenario to give up and prepare to die? I am going to attribute it to either a lack of knowledge or incorrect perception"
That why my reply was EXACTLY as I meant it. It took me less than 10 seconds to think of the reply, it took me less than 3 seconds actually. That is my standard reponse to a gunfight. Staying in the fight and keeping my head on a swivel are more important than plugging holes at that point. Solve the tactical problem first, get ready to fight again, communicate and then treat wounds. It all only takes seconds.
The "give up and die" seems to be a common thread. bro.
I think I'm a little offended by your implication. Treating wounds is not giving up.
Even for you, I presume there's a point where you stop being "in the fight" and start plugging holes, or do you just let yourself bleed out, or have your lungs collapse because your chest cavity fills with air from a sucking chest wound?
Also, I don't see the "get ready to meet my maker" posts as necessarily giving up. I had a wisecrack about "bend over, put my head between my legs, and kiss my ass goodbye" in my original reply which I deleted before posting. But for a person of faith (NB: I'm not) recognizing that this could be it, and it might be a good time for anything one wants to say to ones deity, any repentance one wants to get out of the way, etc., is not giving up either.
One part of recognizing ones own mortality is the realization that a particular incident "could be it."
Case in point. A good many years ago, when I was still young and foolish (one might argue about the second point, but I am most certainly not young any more ), I had just done some work on a motorcycle and opened it up on the road to "see what she'll do." Well, she'd "do" was over 105 when I hit high speed wheel wobbles which jerked the bar out of my hands and catapulted me into the road in front of the bike.
The only thought that crossed my mind as I went over the bars was "I'm dead." However, that wasn't a "give up." In fact, I did everything I could to make that expectation not happen. Mostly it involved keeping my body as limp as I could and waiting it out while I rolled and tumbled, tumbled and rolled, and then tumbled some more (that seemed to go on forever) before I finally came to a stop in the median.
I shakily pulled myself to my feet and limped over (some pain in my knee) to inspect the bike. Not driveable then, but a new front brake master cylinder, a new handlebar, and a new right mirror would be all that it required. (That old Suzuki was tough.) I ended up on crutches for a week from twisting my right knee. (I healed pretty fast in those days.)
The upshot was that although I had a recognition that that could have been it, I could be on the way to see if there really was an afterlife* (or not, as the case may be), but that was a far cry from "giving up."
So you might want to be a tad careful about the assumptions you make about what people mean.
*You know, maybe I was killed then and this is the afterlife. In which case, I am very disappointed.
Sorry, but I am unclear... do I understand correctly that "I" offended you? If so, I apologize as that was far from my intent. I was not referring to treating wounds as giving up, but more to the point of a general tone of "if I am shot in the left chest I am going to die." Of course my real point here was to elicit more discussion and share a point of view.
Regards,
Jim
No, it was not you who I found a bit offensive. I think you may have been overassuming on the "give up" side, but nowhere near the line to "offensive."
It was WETSU's lumping in "treat wounds" with "giving up" that I was bothered by.
No, it was not you who I found a bit offensive. I think you may have been overassuming on the "give up" side, but nowhere near the line to "offensive."
It was WETSU's lumping in "treat wounds" with "giving up" that I was bothered by.
Nor did I intend to be a dick with my comment. Those two concepts-giving up and treating wounds are NOT the same thing. Treating a wound IS part of getting ready to fight again.
Whne I want to be offensive. You will know it.
dburkhead said: "Preparing to meet one's maker and giving up are not necessarily the same thing"
I agree 100%. I have had my bags packed for a long time, ready to go home when called. That doesn't mean I want to get on the bus right now.
SITUATION: You are a legally armed citizen who has been involved in a defensive lethal force situation in which you have shot the attacker multiple times and he is down. However, you have been shot once in the left chest. You are bleeding heavily and are having difficulty with breathing. You have no supplies other than what you normally carry on you and are 150 feet from your vehicle. You recall that the average response time for an ambulance in Indiana is over 6 minutes.
One doesn't have to want to be offensive to be so. Mind you, I could also have been simply primed by the sequence leading up to the specific comments so that I was excessively sensitive to them.
As for the "preparing to meet ones maker" comments that others have made, here's an example:
Some years ago I read a wonderful book "A warrior who fought Custer"--a compilation of interviews with a Cheyenne by the name of Wooden Leg (so named for the way he could walk anybody else into the ground) who was a participant at the Battle of Little Big Horn. One of the things he talked about was that the resplendent costume and "war paint" that the Cheyenne wore into battle was specifically in preparation against the possibility of their death--preparing to meet their maker.
While as a society they were doomed, one thing the Cheyenne were not noted for as individual warriors was a tendency to give up.
Preparing to meet one's maker and giving up are not necessarily the same thing.
Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam, David?
Blessings,
Bill
I have no idea what you just said so I'll just assume it was fawning adoration.