Fri 21 Mar 2008
Impossibly pat premise: the house is burning down. Everyone is out and safe (pets included), and you know for an implausible fact that you can safely go back in for exactly one thing.
What do you save?
Posted by Josh Millard17 answers so far!
my laptop. I know it’s trite, but I have copies of all my photos on there, and copies of my high school’s digital yearbooks, and conversation logs…. sentimental stuff that can’t be recovered, in other words.
beyond that it’d be a toss up between my guitar and my stuffed elephant.
This question was inspired by last night’s Eli Stone, yes? No?
Thank goodness the pets are safe! As we know from the last question I answered, I’d be the one that ends up in the news for saving all her pets and dying in the process. Mom, just know that I have no regrets.
So I didn’t have a fast answer to this question, which surprised me. After mentally going through my rooms I thought, “my jewelry box,” because it contains items of both sentimental and monetary value. But does a jewelry box count as one item?
Before I mentally scanned my bedroom, though, I scanned my living room, and thought, “one of my new living room chairs.” My living room furniture was expensive, I’d been coveting it for years, it’s still new, it’s close to the front door, and it seemed like it’d be easy to just grab one. And then I could sit in it in the yard and watch the mf’er burn.
Then I read Phire’s answer … and I think the answer has to be my backup hard drive. It holds backups of everything: my photos, personal documents, financial documents, and all my work … as a freelancer, my work is at home. I think if all my digital data burned, I’d simply hang up my hat and move to an island somewhere, because all my work would be gone. Hmm, then again, that might be a nice, clean break. Deep down, that’s probably why I don’t do any off-site backups.
Unless I was in a mood and decided that the pretty little seed pot I got in New Mexico needed saving, I still think the backup drive is the winner. It holds lots of history. (Note to self: make sure all photos from NM are scanned in and on that drive.)
my USB stick :)
No without a doubt my laptop/backup drive hanging from it. It has all of my kids pics on it.
well i crapped that up…
USB Stick
Can I tuck my computer under one arm, and grab my son’s toy cat with my other hand? I’d be _such_ a heroine to my son if I saved Poopa.
(And if anyone has suggestions for how I should be backing up my Mac to somewhere that isn’t on fire, please share.)
My mother’s recipe box.
Irreplaceable.
It’s a close tie between my timbuk2 bag (which contains useful stuff like my wallet and keys and checkbook) or my glasses/contacts (I would doubtlessly already be wearing one of them, but I probably would have left the other inside).
My next choice would be either a change of clothes or the upright bass, so I could fiddle while home burned.
Since a lot of my valuable stuff is close together, it would be pretty trivial for me to grab several things, so I ‘m going to do that: computer, keys, wallet, wedding ring and cellphone. Like most people these days, so much of life is stored as bits, I’d be lost without that stuff.
Computer.
My purse. I’d need my debit card to get a hotel room. It also contains my paper address book, which I’d hate to lose.
I’d miss my stuff animals, tho’. I have a monkey, a dinosaur and a walking chattering baby pterodactyl.
The laptop would be nice but I have all my good pics stored online and also most documents. Um. I had better go upload the rest, excuse me.
Errrrr, tough choice… my laptop, although my cell phone would be calling to me too.
I would save what apparently nobody else here values: myself.
now I’m not entirely sure if you guys don’t value me or yourselves but hey, humans are things (wikipedia says “In philosophy, an object is a thing, an entity, or a being” and we all know wikipedia is always right) and as such should be counted; what good is a saved recipe book, usb stick or computer when you’re dead?
so make sure your smoke detectors are working, kids.
health is the only irreplaceable thing out there.
everything else is just stuff.
I would save what apparently nobody else here values: myself.
I’m sure you don’t believe we are all saving our computers (etc) at the expense of our own lives. ;) The question states that everyone is safe. To me, “everyone” includes me. :)
Aye! Embrace the Big Big Premise attitude of the site at every opportunity. We’re not savin’ lives, here, we’re speculatin’.
To me, “everyone” includes me.
you assumed that and it’s probable that you’re right.
it’s just that with fire, flames and death being involved I’m not inclined to take a risk.
especially when all the other stuff is just more convenient to have than to lose.
Q: “If your house was on fire, what single thing would you take out?”
A: “The fire.”
you can touch fire?
that zen, maaaan.