Example of the "F" Decision

The below article is from Chicago Breaking News and is an example of the "F" decision.  He was driving, saw cute little ducklings that were in danger from that nasty high speed expressway, jumped out of his car and lost his life.  Had Edward taken a second to consider his decision, he would have come to the realization concerning the level of his personal risk (very high), his personal value (value: high) and that maybe these ducks (value: low) were on the wrong end of an immediate and dynamic act of natural selection.  For a full explanation concerning the "A" "C" and "F" decision making processes see blog entry on Tuesday June 7, 2011 (IE the one right before this one).


Man killed trying to remove ducklings from I-294
By Stacy St. Clair and Carlos Sadovi | Tribune reporters
May 31, 2011


(Handout photo)

A Naperville man attempting to help a family of ducklings safely cross Interstate Highway 294 was killed Monday when he was struck by a limousine, state police said.

Edward Gardner was traveling north when he pulled over near Schiller Park about 9:30 a.m. because he saw a family of ducklings on the tollway, Illinois State Police Sgt. Nick Hasan said. That’s when the limousine, which police said wasn’t speeding, hit him. Gardner's girlfriend was inside his vehicle.

The 38-year-old was pronounced dead about four hours later at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

“That’s totally Ed,” said Jim Gollwitzer, a longtime friend of Gardner’s. “That’s just how big of a heart he had.”

Gardner, who worked in the telecommunications industry, had dedicated much of his life to helping animals, Gollwitzer said. He spent his vacations volunteering at a wolf sanctuary in New Mexico, doing construction work and whatever odd jobs needed to be done there.

“He cared about animals,” Gollwitzer said. “It was one of his passions in life.”

Gardner’s other passion was muscle cars, in particular the 1960 Chevrolet Parkwood that he spent years restoring. Before Gardner purchased the station wagon, it had been used as an outdoor shed and was considered by many to be unsalvageable, Gollwitzer said.

But Gardner spent hours on the vehicle, transforming it from a rusted junker into an award-winning masterpiece. He painted it bright orange, a color choice he made while eating a bag of Cheetos in his garage one night.

To honor his gastronomic muse, he spray-painted a picture of mascot Chester Cheetah on the tailgate.

“He poured his heart into that car,” Gollwitzer said. “It meant a lot to him.”

It also meant a lot to car show crowds, who would gather around his car to reminisce about childhoods spent in Parkwood wagons. Gardner enjoyed listening to their stories and took great pride in the fact this car made people happy, Gollwitzer said.

The Parkwood won about 60 awards after Gardner began showing it, including several national prizes.

He recently disassembled the car to upgrade it in time for the summer show season. Members of his car club -- The Bad Bowties -- plan to put it back together in the coming days, said Gollwitzer, who is president of the club.

“It’s what Ed would have wanted,” he said. “It’s important that we do this for him.”

State police are investigating the incident, but no citations were issued to the driver of the limousine, Hasan said.

Quick Emotional Decisions make for...

I believe there are three types of decisions.  The "A" decision-the one that helps you.  The "C" decision-the one that does not help you but does not hurt you either, and the "F" decision-the one that hurts you.

Two huge factors in determining which type of decision will be the result of your the judgement you caste, is the decision time frame crossed with the level of emotion at the point of the choice.  Simply put, quick emotional decisions make for more "F" decisions and the opposite make for more "A" decisions.

I just recently spent a week in the hospital when my wife's great aunt was stricken ill and via the E.R. was placed into the I.C.U. (and I.C.U. too).  The relative is in her early nineties and does not get around easily but other than that her health is basically good.  She had developed Pneumonia and was having trouble breathing and fluid was building in her lungs.  When she made it to the I.C.U., they also discovered that she had a large bleeding ulcer in her stomach that required a tube to be inserted into her nose down to her stomach for drainage.  She also had an infection that required an IV drip of antibiotics.  She was in bad shape.  When we arrived, she did not look good, so I began trying to prepare my wife for the worst.  A short time later my mother-in-law arrived and the nurse then stepped into the room.

The nurse said, "Okay I was told by the doctor to wait till you got here to start the morphine drip, so I'll just start it now.

My mother-in-law then said, "Oh no your not, I know what the morphine is for (have you heard any songs by Youth In Asia?)...and it will depress her breathing so it will not be used."

The nurse, looking perplexed said, "I spoke to the doctor and he said...".

But my mother-looked-up and said, "I will not permit the morphine to be used."  The nurse then went away looking puzzled.

The next day the elder care physician came in and took the position that the morphine should be used to ease my wife's great aunt's suffering because this patient would not recover and it would be cruel to allow her to continue to suffer.  Again my mother-in-law said "no" and the doctor then stormed off.

Now my mother-in-law is a R.N. and had already planned for this eventuality (the relative/patient was in her early 90's after all) and had set up the parameters for the use of morphine or not, long before this day.  Now the rest of the family started rolling in.  One brother of my mother-in-law came in frantic and upset and decided morphine was the right thing to administer.  He was followed by his sister and then the other brother and all voted for the morphine.  Their decisions were made in the height of emotion and extremely quickly.

The conclusion?  The elder relatives infection is now gone, her ulcer has stopped bleeding and the tube has been pulled.  She is eating on her own and is now without any supplemental oxygen and will be leaving the I.C.U. any day now.

So the "A" decision was to keep her alive and the "F" decision would to have killed her with the morphine.  Too short decision time frame and too high emotionally would have killed the elderly patient had my mother-in-law not had the power of attorney and made a good decision before she arrived at the hospital.