This is one of the most common questions you'll ever see. It is a question of values. What are you willing to do, how far will you go? Most the gameshows we see today deal with this in one fashion or another.
The people that have watched me grow know that I was the guy who would do anything. If you had something wacky to do, something gross, something a little out there it was a good bet that I might be the guy to look at. You never knew what I would do and frankly neither did I.
These days I am a little more restrained. I am a father and I have responsibilities to take care of. There are two, J & E and they are more important to me than anything you can imagine. I know, you are wondering, "when is Jack going to stop harping on his children and talk about something else?"
The answer is never. I never will because those two are the best thing that I have ever done with my life. They represent my greatest hopes and dreams and I am so very proud of them it aches, it hurts to smile as big as I do when they are near. I look like a copy of the Joker from Batman, one big grin.
And I haven't any problem saying that I hope that in some way this rubs off on other parents who for whatever reason have trouble relating to or getting along with their boys and girls. Among the saddest things I can think of are children who are neglected or abused.
Anyway my writing is similar to my speech, it is a stream-of-consciousness kind of thing and I am back to the topic of what I did or could do. I love life with a passion, when I laugh, when I truly laugh it is infectious. My whole body shakes and if I laugh for an extended period of time my stomach hurts.
And when I am angry, I feel it deep inside. I am not often sad, but that too is a deep, intense feeling. In short it is a long winded way of saying that if I feel something I usually really feel it.
There are many stories about my past that I do not want my children to hear. Some of them can be revealed in time. Some I choose to keep secret because there is a part of me that I keep for me. It is a little chunk that is Jack's and Jack's alone. When you have children it is hard to maintain your own individuality, so that part is something that I need and keep for myself.
Some stories are not fit for their ears because of their age. Some are things that were stupid and reckless and I don't want them to use my success in surviving these things as an excuse to engage in the same idiocy as their abba.
So when I look at the various games and opportunities for a person to win big money it makes me consider what I would do now. Would I go on a game in which I had to lie to others to win. Would I participate in something that made me act in a way that would take some extra explaining. Would it be ok if lying meant that I won a million dollars.
I am not a wealthy man, but a million dollars would not instantly change my life forever. It would make some vast improvements, but it is not enough for me to retire on. It is not enough to live like there is no tomorrow.
But even if it was, would I try for the money. It would be enough to ensure that my children's education was covered. I could pay off my house and have enough left in the bank to secure my retirement provided I kept putting money into a retirement account.
I am not sure, truthfully I might have to consider it. And again, it would depend on the nature of the game and what was required.
You know life was much simpler when all I had to do was earn $5 for drinking Tabasco sauce or eating a jar of mayo.
2 comments:
Would you kill for money? Say you were ex-special forces contracted to kill the main man of a drug cartel. You will be stripped from your identity, your US passport will be taken away and the government will deny you ever existed. The boat awaits and from there you will be sailed to colombia. A CIA-agent left you a case with a sniper rifle, assault rifle, handguns, grenades, plastic explosives and a rocket-launcher. Now you're on your own. You must infiltrate the cartel and kill the boss using any means necessary. Stealth or brute force is your own choice to make. Reward if succeeded: 40 million dollar. Fail and you will be tortured to death.
Or another scenario. In turkmenistan is a terrorist active who is preparing to ship a nerve-gas through ports with bribed customs agents. This gas will be assembled in the US into a bomb which will be detonated in chicago.
The CIA knows about this but can't sent large groups of soldiers into turkmenistan because of the political ruckus it will cause. The turkmenistan authorities are as honest as donald trump, so if you want to be guarenteed the terrorists will succeed then the american government will inform then.
There is only one option left: you. As ex-seal you will be dropped in the turkmenistan desert at night time. With night-goggles on you must confront the tribes protecting the terrorists and eliminate the main threat before the gas leaves the country.
So, would you do it? ;)
Zeruel
Why not, I am a secret agent.
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