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Something To Make You Throw Up!

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sleepyop

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I received the following in a Forwarded e-mail, which can be summed up as the altruist approach to ethics:

> Subject: The Brick

>

>

> The Brick!!! Read It. Read this today and don't delete it if you

> are

> too busy!! You'll see.

>

> THE BRICK

>

> A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood

>

> street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching

>

> for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down

>

> when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no children

>

> appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag's side door! He

>

> slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where

>

> the brick had been thrown. The angry driver then jumped out of the

>

> car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked

>

> car shouting, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what

>

> the heck are you doing? That's a new car and that brick you threw

>

> is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?" The young

>

> boy was apologetic. "Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I

>

> didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick

>

> because no one else would stop.." With tears dripping down his

>

> face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just around a

>

> parked car. "It's my brother," he said. "He rolled off the curb

>

> and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up."

>

> Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, "Would you

>

> please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and

>

> he's too heavy for me." Moved beyond words, the driver tried to

>

> swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly

>

> lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out

>

> a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A

>

> quick look told him everything was going to be okay. "Thank you

>

> and may God bless you," the grateful child told the stranger. Too

>

> shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy! push his

>

> wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

>

> It was a long, slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage was very

>

> noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented

>

> side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message:

>

> "Don't go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick

>

> at you to get your attention!" God whispers in our souls and

>

> speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don't have time to listen,

>

> He has to throw a brick at us. It's our choice to listen or not.

>

> Thought for the Day:

>

> If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.

>

> If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.

>

> He sends you flowers every spring.

>

> He sends you a sunrise every morning

>

> Face it, friend - He is crazy about you!

>

> Send this to every "beautiful person" you wish to bless.

>

> God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without

>

> sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day,

>

> comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

>

> Read this line very slowly and let it sink in...

>

> If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

>

> Pass this message to seven people except you and me.

>

> You will receive a miracle tomorrow ( just do it)!

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"Please, mister...please, I'm sorry but I didn't know what else to do," He pleaded. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop.."

What a stupid story. Couldn't the kid have just waved the driver down? Oh, I forgot, his crippled dyslexic little brother with a cleft palate and a lisp trumps everyone else's life. B)

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I did not agree with the theme. It is too Christian for me. However, if in a world where men wouldn't stop for kid yelling for help, a brick in the window, where the driver's life is risked, where his anger is heightened, would be a good moment to show the "virtue" of generosity and sacrifice. Most Objectivists, wouldn't find it a sacrifice to stop for kids yelling for help.

But right away, in such a short skit, you are hit with the conflict. A boy is injured. What ruins the story is the "miracle"; the kid is only scratched.

A better ending would be where the driver opts to pay for the kids medical expenses; rushes him to the hospital; ... and adopts both kids, etc.

The point is that I felt the drama... until I found out that the kid wasn't in danger. What saves the story is the boy's ignorance of medicine, and his fragility, unable to pick up his brother.

I must admit that I wouldn't want to receive one of those; or I would read it once and delete it quickly.

Americo.

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It seems to me that the man driving the car gets something back for helping the kids, so for all I know he is doing it just as much for himself as for the kids. Thus, I do not think he is making a sacrifice.

I though the story was silly, making no point at all. And why the brick? Last time I checked, waving worked perfectly. The story actually says that the man was slowing down, watching out for kids.

At the top of this God is dragged into the story, and this is the part of the story where I had to puke a little.

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it, If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it, He sends you flowers every spring, He sends you a sunrise every morning. Face it, friend - He is crazy about you!
I don't know wheter to laugh or cry when I read this.

Send this to every "beautiful person" you wish to bless.

But with this one I am sure.

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Why don't you create a new version in which the exec. calls the police and has the boy arrested and sent to juvenile detention? You could also change the God part to mention some of the other great things that God sends us, like hurricanes and the flu. Then send it back to the person you got the original from and see how they respond. B)

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I felt sorry for the poor little brick. Such a wasted life. It could have found a more meaningful life as part of a wall or a building. Instead the only existing evidence that it ever served a purpose is the dent in the man's car. Well, at least I can go to sleep knowing that he had the decency not to repair it.

Oh wait! Maybe a construction worker walks by later on and sees this poor little brick lying alongside the road, and he picks it up, and then...........

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I felt sorry for the poor little brick.  Such a wasted life.  It could have found a more meaningful life as part of a wall or a building.  Instead the only existing evidence that it ever served a purpose is the dent in the man's car.  Well, at least I can go to sleep knowing that he had the decency not to repair it.

Oh wait!  Maybe a construction worker walks by later on and sees this poor little brick lying alongside the road, and he picks it up, and then...........

Post of the week! :dough:

That made my monday morning, seriously!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've gotten this particular E-mail before. Its not the worst. The worst are the ones that say something like: "I am dying of cancer and need money for my treatment, please E-mail this to 20 people if you value my life." Things like this are not funny even as stupid internet spam jokes. I hate those E-mails that try to make you feel guilty. Its ridiculous. As if a person could be guilty of some horrible crime by recieving some stupid forwarded message and refusing to harass the people in their address book by sending it to them! :)

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