[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by sarramkrop

Ok, this is more the sort of reply that I expected from you.

well it's the same reply, you just got the long version. i.e., one where the trajectory to the end answer is fleshed out for all to see. which, fair enough, helps to avoid misunderstanding.

anyway here's something i thought about the rest of your post (which i didn't quote):

while it's interesting to know how people assess themselves in the courage-to-live scale (if i'm correct that's what you're driving at), i think that people don't often know their own strengths. because ultimately you're going to have to deal with whatever life throws at you-- death, disease, tickles, tragedy, concentration camps, whatever-- and then and only then you'll be able to say "ok, i can handle this" or you won't and you'll have a freakout and take refuge in booze pills whatever.

if you told me today i'd have to live with a colostomy bag hanging from my ass for the rest of my life i'd say "fuck no, i'd rather die", but if i *really* had to have it installed (fuck no, and knock on wood), who knows how i'd adapt & react to it. maybe i'd become a painter, maybe i'd off myself, maybe i'd laugh it off and play sports, maybe maybe maybe. anyway, just wanted to point out that self-perception, while interesting in and of itself, is frequently inaccurate, because time moves on, things change, and we're never the same person.

anyway, that was a digression. please carry on.