Random thoughts

Every time I do an autopsy at ME’s office, I ask myself a question: could it be me? Hopefully, my coronaries are not THAT bad because I drink, and probably, my liver is not cirrhotic yet because I don’t have time to drink THAT much. I don’t use illicit drugs and don’t have suicidal ideations. I cannot die of SIDS and unlikely to be killed by my parents. The above eliminates approximately 50% of the fatalities, which gives me some hope. Probably, I will survive up to 40 if I’m not killed in a variety of motor-vehicle, flying or boating accidents, if I’m not shot by the police or a local gang, if I can avoid natural disasters, malfunctioning equipment, therapeutic misadventures, etc. We had a conversation over the glass of beer the other day. My fellow workers believe that they are still alive because a higher power protects them. As a pragmatic agnostic, I don’t give a damn about higher power of any sort. I told them, it’s all statistics. It’s like flipping a coin with 50% chances for heads or tails. And if you had “heads” for so many years, that doesn’t mean a thing. Next day there can be “tails” and you end up on an autopsy table in the county morgue. It’s random. You have to accept it and live with it. Make sure people around you know your NOK (next of keen) contacts. My buddies got me another beer and a cigar. They didn’t like this theory since there is no protection from randomness.

I posted this “opus” on Facebook and got two replies from my friends:

Amy:

Randomness and chance are impossible concepts to accept for most people. The search for meaning and design are implicit in our ability to recognize "self". I think it takes those of us without "faith" a lot longer to accept death and loss than it does those who have it. That said, my "ICE" contacts are listed in my phone, in case anyone cares when I get hit by the bus.

Doug:

If there were a higher power, which I doubt, it would likely echo Tyler Durden: "Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else."