Last week, we played a rousing game of “Would You Rather,” with a deck of cards my sister bought along. I love a good “would you rather” question, but after the first one- “If you had a second head, would you rather have it facing the same way with full movement -OR- have it facing backwards fixed in place, unable to move?” my brother in law declared “I’m not playing this game!” and left the room.
We eventually lured him back into the game and skipped the questions that were preposterous. Here are some of the more thought-provoking ones:
“For the same amount of money, would you rather have a job you love and have to work 60 hours a week- OR- have a job you absolutely hate but only have to work 25 hours a week?” — Tough one. I voted for the second choice, but my son voted for the first, saying that working five hours a day at a job you absolutely hate would make your life miserable.
“Would you rather be filthy rich- OR- command tremendous respect (but not both)?” —- We all gave the only correct answer (ha ha) which was, be filthy rich, except for my brother in law. It should be noted that he’s also the only person I know who does NOT want to win the lottery.
“Would you rather be forced to watch The Sound of Music continuously for 48 hours- OR- drive cross-country with Barry Manilow singing on the radio the whole time?” BOTH! BOTH! I love The Sound of Music, and I would also love to drive cross-country. Having Barry Manilow playing the whole time wouldn’t ruin it for me at all.
“Would you rather overcome your worst fears- OR- outsmart anyone who tries to screw you over?” This one led to an interesting discussion. The “outsmart” choosers said things like “Think what it would be like when you went to buy a car!” or “Think about all the corporations trying to screw you over!” True… I do feel like I’m getting screwed over in certain areas (hello, auto insurance) but I don’t feel like it’s personal. More like there are flaws in the system, rather than someone trying to screw me over personally.
Rather, I think the thing that holds me back the most in life is fear. I couldn’t tell you exactly what I’m afraid of. What other people think? That I’ll look stupid? That I’m not good enough/smart enough/strong enough?
I’m definitely getting better about this the older I get. I think most people get more confident and care less about what other people think as they get older. But I still see fear as my limiting factor. When am I going to overcome this? Do I really want my whole life to go by, and at the end wish I had done more instead of being afraid?
That game of “Would You Rather,” which started with a question about having a second head, ended up giving me a lot to think about.
Do you have an answer to any of these questions?
Where would you position your second head?
Top photo by Matt Walsh on Unsplash
19 Responses
Ooooh these are definitely thought provoking! You and I have a lot in common with the fear thing, Jenny. I empathize completely. Stupid fear.
I also think I’d rather work more hours at a job I loved. I tend to throw myself into my work, which isn’t the healthiest in a lot of ways, but I get a lot of satisfaction out of it and I think even 25 hours a week of a terrible job would be unbearable.
Back to fear: my second head would totally face backwards. No one’s sneaking up on me!
The work one was hard. 60 hours a week is a LOT! What about other interests, like reading and exercise??? How would you find the time. Well, good thing I don’t actually have to choose.
Jenny, you know I LOVE me a good question 🙂
I’d definitely rather work a job I loved for 60 hours.
Tremendous respect.
Sound of Music. Love the movie and hard pass on Barry Manilow for me!
Overcome worst fears. No contest picking that answer!
The second head one…I think backward? Like what good would having two heads facing the same way be? Would each head have a different brain? How would each head process stimuli if they were facing the same way – if both heads had eyes for example, and we processing visual signals. I think I might have left the room, too! This question is overwhelming.
My kids have a whole bunch of ridiculous kid-centric Would You Rather questions and they are HILARIOUS.
There were a lot of stupid questions like the head one- we just skipped over those. But for the most part we enjoyed the game. Would You Rather questions are fun!
Oh, I like The Sound of Music and don’t like Manilow, so that’s an easy one for me! Though I expect after 48 hours I would be less fond of the movie.
When it says the head facing forward would have “full movement” does that mean full like a human head, or really full? Because if it could swivel around like an owl, I would take that!
I’m baffled at the thought that anyone doesn’t want to win the lottery.
Well, so far no one is coming along with me on my Barry Manilow road trip!
i agree- if the second head could swivel like an owl, I’d take that.
My brother in law is definitely a unique person! Maybe if he somehow wins the lottery by mistake he can just give me the money.
Ha! We have a couple of versions of this game, and I think complaining about the questions is a big part of it… at least over at our place. 🙂 (Chuck Klosterman’s Hypertheticals is super detailed.)
I’ll have the second head as a detachable one I can use when I need it, thanks!
Ha ha, good answer. Chuck Klosterman Hypertheticals? I’ll check that out!
I think I’d rather be tremendously respected than Filthy Rich. We’ve talked about the lottery and I can’t say I would necessarily want to win it either. It would be hard for everyone in your life to know that you came into a signficant amount of money. I feel like you’d get so many requests to give money to people and I would just rather not deal with that as a conflict avoidant person. I just don’t really care to be Filthy Rich? I’d like to be comfortable but my tastes/interests are kind of basic, generally speaking, so I don’t NEED to have like hundreds of millions? Or billions? Or whatever dollar amount is associated with being ‘filthy rich’.
This sounds like a very fun game for a group, though! I would totally play but would have skipped that first head question, too. Ha.
I think that’s my BIL’s stance as well. He’s pretty happy with his life as it is, and wouldn’t want to complicate it.
I would 100% take Barry Manilow singing, although I do like The Sound Of Music, I looooooove Barry. Also, I would take a head that is looking backwards, why would you want two heads that are the same?
My worst fears are of my kids dying, so I really don’t want to face that! I’ll take the other option.
Yes, I guess i was interpreting “fears” in a different way- but truly my WORST fears are something I don’t want to have to face, ever.
Now I’ve had Barry Manilow songs going through my head all day, and I’m enjoying it!
Aw yiss!!! As long as we have the option to reject the head question, I am all about this game!
– I don’t even have to think about the job thing. 60 hours for a job that I love please! I was often able to get my work done in way less than 40 hours at my old job, and it still made me completely miserable.
– FILTHY RICH!!!! I’m with your BIL, because the only time I play the lottery is for our family Christmas party and I loathe scratching off all of the tickets. My results are amazingly consistent: spend $20 in tickets, win $1.
– I’ll join you in the cross country drive with Barry! I wouldn’t mind watching The Sound of Music, but I’d rather have the drive.
– Overcome my fears! If I did that I’d be able to outsmart a lot of people in the process.
I had a feeling you’d like a cross country road trip! Think of the fun we’d have, while singing along to “Copacabana.”
I’m with you on the work one — I really value having free time so I’d pick the job with shorter hours that I hated. I can’t imagine working 60 hours a week even if it was a job I loved, it’s already hard enough to find time to run and do all the other things working 40 hours a week!
I would also rather overcome my worst fears, I definitely have a lot of social anxiety that holds me back sometimes and it would be nice not to care what other people think.
Yes, I get why people would pick the job they love, but I just wouldn’t want to work 60 hours a week! How would you find the time for everything else???
“For the same amount of money, would you rather have a job you love and have to work 60 hours a week- OR- have a job you absolutely hate but only have to work 25 hours a week?” This is so complicated. Why do I hate the job? LOLOLOL. I think I’d pick that one because you’d have so much other free time, but since I have had a job I reallllly hated once and it nearly ruined my entire life outside of the job, I worry about it would not matter that it’s only a few hours a day if it’s constantly on my mind when I’m not there. Sixty hours is so much, though. When would I find time to walk the dog?
This question is too hard. I would like to work a low-stress 40 hour a week job. LOL.
Yes, we had debates like that. Why do I hate the job? How rich is “flithy” rich? If I don’t pick that option, does it mean I’ll be poor, or middle class? etc. etc. And- you couldn’t work 60 hours a week. Hannah needs you at home!
I’d choose a job I hate for 25 hours because imagine what you could do in the rest of your time. I would like to have a life. Thank you very much.
Command tremendous respect.
I’d take the cross-country drive. Hopefully, that would include sightseeing stops!
And I’d choose to overcome my worst fears.