The Dog Days Are Here...

I'd love to write a nice blog about how happy I am that the Rangers are (hovering around) .500, but I can't justify praising a team that consitently gives up 10+ runs, even if they manage to win a few of the barnburners.

Since I'm not in a Ranger-writing mood, here's a plug about the book I'm currently reading, IV: a Decade Of Curious People And Dangerous Ideas, by Chuck Klosterman. IV is a collection of essays and articles written by Klosterman over the past 6-7 years from publications such as Esquire, New York Times Magazine, ESPN the magazine, and others.

Here's his intro for the chapter 'Nemesis', written for Esquire in 2004:

Think of someone who is your friend (do not select your best friend, but make sure the person is someone you would classify as "considerably more than an aquaintance").
This friend is going to be attacked by a grizzly bear.
Now, this person will survive this bear attack; that is guaranteed. There is a 100% chance that your friend will live. However, the extent of his injuries is unknown; he might receive nothing but a few superficial scratches, but he also might lose a limb (or mulitiple limbs). He might recover completely in twenty-four hours with nothing but a great story, or he might spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
Somehow, you have the ability to stop this attack from happening. You can magically save your friend from the bear. But his (or her) salvation will come a a peculiar price: if you choose to stop the bear, it will always rain. For the rest of your life, wherever you go, it will be raining. Sometimes it will pour and sometimes it will drizzle-but it will never not be raining. But it won't rain over the totality of the earth, nor will the hydrological cycle be disrtupted; these storm clouds will be isolated, and they will focus entirely on your specific whereabouts. You will never see the sun again.
Do you stop the bear and accept a lifetime of rain?

Dang. I don't know. I want the friend to be alright, but non-stop rain kinda stinks, too. Am I a jerk for possibly not saving the friend, just so I can avoid perpetual rain? I mean, it's possible that the friend walks away with a cool scar and great story, right? But how awful would it be if he looses an arm, a leg, and has to have reconstructive surgery on his face becuase it's mangled so bad? If push came to shove, I don't think I could not save him, but still, it's quite the quandary.

For the record, Klosterman doesn't follow up with his answer what he believe is the "right" thing to do, so I didn't get too much closure. Because of that, I'd like to know y'alls opinion on what you would do. I'm pretty sure there's no right or wrong answer, but I'd like to know what others think of this interesting proposition.

-Grizzly Twig