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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Wharf Rat who wrote (33416)4/25/2005 11:27:01 PM
From: Lazarus_Long  Respond to of 90947
 
LIVING WILL FROM THE NEW YORKER

MY LIVING WILL
by PAUL RUDNICK
Issue of 2005-04-25
Posted 2005-04-18

1. If I should remain in a persistent vegetative state for more than
fifteen years, I would like someone to turn off the TV.

2. If I remain motionless for an extended period and utter only
guttural, meaningless sounds, I would like a Guggenheim.

3. If I am unable to recognize or interact with friends or family
members, I still expect gifts.

4. If I am unable to feed, clean, or dress myself, I would like to be
referred to as "Mr. Trump."

5. Do not resuscitate me before noon.

6. If I do not respond to pinches, pinpricks, rubber mallets, or other
medical stimuli, please stop laughing.

7. If I no longer respond to loved ones' attempts at communication,
ask them about our last car trip.

8. Once I am allowed to die a painless and peaceful death, I would
like my organs donated to whoever can catch them.

9. If my death is particularly dramatic, I would like to be played by
Hilary Swank, for a slam dunk.

10. If there is any family dispute over my medical condition, it must
be settled with a dreidel.

11. Even if I remain in a persistent vegetative state for more than
fifteen years, that still doesn't mean bangs.

12. If my doctor pronounces me brain-dead, I would like to see the new
Ashton Kutcher movie.

13. If I remain unconscious during a painful, lingering illness, I
would like the following life lessons to be published in a book
entitled "Tuesdays with Paul":

i. Treasure every moment.

ii. Love everyone.

iii. If you bought this in hardcover, you're an idiot.

14. I do not wish to be kept alive by any machine that has a "Popcorn" setting.

15. I would like to die at home, surrounded by my attorneys.

16. If my loved ones insist that the cost of my medical care has
become an impossible burden, show them a Polaroid of their "beach
shack."

17. In lieu of flowers or donations, I would prefer rioting.

18. I would like my entire estate to become the property of my cat,
Fluffy, who said, "He wouldn't want to live like this, with that zit."

19. Assume that, even in a coma, I can still hear discussions about my
apartment.

20. If there is any talk of canonizing me, please remember that I have
often held the elevator for people who were still getting their mail,
that I have twice offered a cab to a woman in a fur coat even though I
was totally there first, and that I always waited to make derogatory
comments until after the couple with the double stroller was a block
away.

21. In the event of an open coffin, I would like smoky evening eyes.

22. At my memorial service, I would like my clergyman to begin his
eulogy with the words "I suppose, in a way, we all killed him."