Emergency?
Well, it's not that I begrudge anyone anything, but I always wonder why someone would want a last meal in an emergency. And in this case, by emergency I mean when you're on death row or have been sentenced to death. Then you get to say what you want to eat for your last meal. When I see this in a film, I have mixed feelings about it. Would someone really sit down to a lavish meal knowing they'll be dead within the hour, executed while a group of people watch, whether with schadenfreude or not? It seems to me that you'd have other things on your mind and be a nervous wreck. That's also something you see in films, where people literally collapse when they have to walk that last mile. In a way, I quite admire the bastards, the real criminals who take those last steps with their heads held high and die with pride. Try putting yourself in their shoes.
What would it be like to sit there and watch someone get an injection, a noose around their neck, or be electrocuted... Most people can't even bear to watch their own pet get an injection and simply hand over that responsibility.
At the same time, they stand there with their cameras in hand when an emergency occurs. They call it disaster tourism. YouTube is full of it. Helping someone is no longer an option, whether it's a stranger or someone in your own home or a close neighbour or friend. It's strange when you think about how we enjoy the suffering of others, some even when they can't witness how another person is suffering. No one offers a helping hand, because that would show a lack of character and people are afraid for their own safety. Apparently, fear does not arise when you are hidden behind a camera filming the incident. There is no fear for your own life when it is posted on YouTube or other social media.
The last meal? Most who die will not get one (did you know that your bowels and bladder empty spontaneously when you die?), and the same is true for many who are alive. There is no choice. Some stuff themselves, while others try to survive on a handful of food a day... for the whole family.
And as the prisoner stares at his last meal, the only thing he can think about is: my grandmother cooked better than this; this is not how it should look, smell, and certainly not taste. I'll leave that last dish alone; I'm not desperate enough to die of food poisoning.
Prompts: emergency + last dish
29-1-2026
I think that the last meal thing comes from the times when people in prison were fed dry bread and something or nothing, i.e. when they were given almost nothing to eat. But why this could be a last wish is absolutely inexplicable to modern man, you're right. But now, reading this, and prompted by recent reflections, I'm thinking this: Suicide is forbidden, right? Taking your own life, for whatever reason, is stigmatized with threats of all sorts. At the same time, taking someone else's life isn't that big of a deal. It's true, you'll be sentenced, but if you're sentenced to death, i.e. some people decide that you should die, that's not a big deal either. And how many people's lives are taken in wars by other people - that's also not a big deal. Isn't that a huge paradox?
Regarding the lack of desire in people to help, this is another modern paradox that I have observed for many years in a country like Bulgaria, where man is a wolf to man, as they say. But that this terrible trait of human nature is spreading in Western European countries, I did not know, and I did not suspect that it could happen.🤔Enjoying the suffering of others could be explicable in poor countries. But absolutely inexplicable in the rich ones.
Sadly, there is a blatant double standard depending on a person's perceived status. Those deemed to be of 'lower status' are often forbidden from the very things that those in power—or 'higher status'—claim as their right.
I am afraid you have a very distorted view of the West or Western countries. No help is offered at all, nobody cares, especially when it comes to aid organisations, they just say that they should take care of it themselves. In addition, only a small portion of the money collected from ordinary people goes to helping other countries in need. We all pay taxes, and a large amount of that tax money goes to various charities. Why these particular charities is a big question mark. Often they are corrupt organisations that do not care about human rights at all, whose leaders receive a lot of money and celebrate, paedophiles, child trafficking, trafficking in women, you name it. Nothing to be proud of. Of course, there are also people who donate to charity simply because they feel sorry for what they see in the images and don't look any further. Often, those images are also manipulated and fake, and you see the same person begging in different scenes in different countries. In other words, it's just staged. Then, of course, there's also the problem of aid campaigns where the goods never reach the people they're meant for, which naturally causes part of the population to lose interest. And what about all those people who live in extreme poverty in their own country and are never eligible for aid? It is therefore bitter for them to see how much money is pumped into countries, not just year after year, but time and time again, and that these countries are still unable to build anything themselves with all that aid. The reason? Because, as the people themselves say, it is easier to beg than to work. That is also an attitude that we are unfamiliar with here. In recent decades, fear has increased. I have been making this clear on the streets for years. People no longer introduce themselves, there are few greetings on the street and for the slightest thing you just get a knife in your back and the worst thing is that the police do nothing at all. Even if you are threatened, you can report it, but that's about all you can do, you have no rights. In the Netherlands, you are not allowed to defend yourself, because then you will be prosecuted. For years, we women have been told that it is better to let yourself be raped than to fight back. Now I can tell you that the opposite is true: it is better to fight back than to feel that you have done nothing because people told you to let it happen so that you could at least be rid of it. The average victim would rather fight to the death and feel like they fought back than survive and feel like they stood by, did nothing, didn't set boundaries, and at least didn't try. That's definitely a life sentence.
I think that in the American prison system, it's better to be on death row. I saw a documentary about death row and how prisoners try to get there, simply because their living conditions, the food and the extras they get there are better than in a regular cell. I think it makes a huge difference how much money you have and what your life in prison is like. I am sure that if some rich guy ends up in prison, he or she will live like a king, or else they will simply be placed under house arrest in their own villa. Nevertheless, I still think that your nerves will be shot if you are sentenced to death and that the last thing you want is to enjoy a good meal. I can imagine that you would rather want to see a certain person or write or talk to them.
I don't think my view of the West is distorted. We all know about aid organizations, and what they can actually be, we all know how corrupt, evil, venal and greedy people in the governing systems can be, here and there, at any level, even at the highest European level, no one denies that.
I meant what people are like here and there, and I have many personal examples, which there is not enough space to tell, of the instinct that is innate there, and the lack of any instinct and desire here.
Communist regimes take care to wring out every human instinct in man, pitting people against each other, making them fear each other, and thus never helping each other, i.e., dividing them so that they can never unite in some case, for example to turn against the regime that rules them.
Now that I think about it, I think that сovid has also somehow managed to achieve this in other countries - to make people fear each other, maybe also to report each other to the authorities (as it was under communism). Perhaps this is where the lasting modern change in Western people comes from, I mean ordinary people who no longer greet each other on the street. The trauma experienced has remained. And by different means, the same much-desired results are achieved, which are so important to those at the top - to divide people so that they can never unite for something greater.
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@wakeupkitty
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I don't believe it was COVID fearing other people since I saw the change about 40 years ago and it only gets worse. More likely it's because we all lose our identity due to too many foreigners forcing us to live their way and if not we are called names, stabbed, raped and no one is safe. Not even 90+ years old...
There are still some good people, helpful, attentive but they are getting rare. If you try to help you are kicked to death...even songs with a long list of names of people who tried to help out someone attacked are sung about this fact in the 80s and 90s.
We are drilled and live by more rules than you can imagine.
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I agree with you, I don't think a person who knows they are going to die has an appetite.
The topic of the last meal intrigued me. I read that there are several explanations, including one that refers to the symbolism of Jesus' last supper.
Knowing that you are going to die, perhaps nothing in this world makes sense anymore, but eating is a pleasure beyond the material. There are foods that evoke emotions. Doing a mental exercise, although it is certainly not my case, I would expect it to be at least one day before the execution; there would be no way to eat just before, except for anxiety or gluttony. Emptying the bowels when dying is another stain on a condemned man.
In a way, all this reminds me that when people are very old or sick, already terminally ill, those who previously restricted them from all the tasty foods in the world and their favorite dishes begin to relax the rules. The doctor tells the family, “Give him whatever he wants,” and there I return to the initial topic of pleasure and the emotions associated with food.
Your text also reminded me of a movie, which in Venezuela was titled La Milla Verde. Some of those condemned to the electric chair in the prison wing manage to elicit sympathy from the viewer, even without knowing what crime they committed. It's a very human point of view, especially for those of us who abhor the idea of the death penalty.
On the other hand, what you say about videos of accidents and tragedies in this crazy society is so sad. There is a lot of morbid curiosity in these types of people. Some not only record or search for these types of videos, but also forward them endlessly.
In my opinion, this kind of thing makes them less and less sensitive to other people's pain.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
El tema de la última comida me causó curiosidad. Estuve leyendo que tiene varias explicaciones, incluso en una habla del simbolismo de la última cena de Jesús.
Sabiendo que vas a morir quizás nada de este mundo tenga ya sentido, pero el comer es un placer más allá de lo material. Hay alimentos que evocan emociones. Haciendo un ejercicio mental, sin duda su fuera mi caso, esperaría que fuera al menos un día antes de la ejecución, no habría manera de comer justo antes, excepto por fulano ansiedad. Que se vacíe el intestino al morir es un mancha más en un condenado a muerte.
En cierta forma todo esto me recuerda que cuando las personas están muy mayores o enfermas, ya desahuciadas, los que antes le restringían todo lo rico en el mundo y sus platillos favoritos comienzan a flexibilizar lo. El medico le dice a los familiares, denle lo que quiera, y allí vuelvo al tema inicial del placer y las emociones asociadas a la comida.
Tu texto también me recordó una película, en Venezuela se le tituló La Milla Verde. Algunos de los condenados a la silla eléctrica del pabellón logran uns consideración del televidente hacia ellos, aún sin saber qué crimen cometieron, es un punto de vista muy humano, más para quienes aborrecemos la idea de la pena de muerte.
Por otra parte, lo que expresas sobre los videos de accidentes y tragedias en esta sociedad loca es tan triste. Hay mucho morbo en ese tipo de personas, algunos no solo graban o buscan ese tipo de videos sino que los reenvían infinitamente. En mi opinión este tipo de cosas cada vez los vuelve menos sensibles al dolor ajeno.
Pardon my language, but you were absolutely right to call out those bastards. All they care about is content. What kind of world are we living in? You would think people were pulling out their phones to dial 911, but instead, they are chasing a viral moment. I even know of an instance where some idiot shared a 'spectator view' video of someone jumping off a building—and other idiots kept forwarding it.
And that is the world we live in. While writing this, I was reminded of an advertisement in which a man was hiking or perhaps climbing a mountain and shouted for help from a rock. What did she do? She shouted: 'Hang on a minute,' took out her phone and filmed it. And of course, it was posted online. I believe there was even a follow-up advertisement. No idea which company it was for, by the way, because these kinds of adverts attract more attention than the name of the company. And of course everyone laughs about it, but imagine you're hanging there, or in dire straits, and then this happens. The fact that we laugh about it has been the case for a while now and it's very recognisable, but it's also the sad truth. You can't count on help. We are even told that you should never call for help, but for fire, because then people will come!
Right. I heard this before. People might even get further away from you if you yelled 'HELP!"
Indeed or they won't respond, same for those car alarms. Not a single person will go outside to check.