"Now I Know What I Got, It's Just This Song"

I've been known to have weird dreams, and I'm fine with that. I had this dream a couple weeks ago that I thought was particularly interesting. I was in the mountains, out west somewhere, at what was apparently an off-site facility that the state (whatever state it might have been) used to execute death row criminals. In addition, private citizens could use the execution facilities for physician-assisted suicides. You could also apparently bring terminally ill loved ones there. They also had paramilitary and survival training exercises in the mountains around the facility. I still have no idea what I was doing there.

Anyway, so after I competed in some sort of hardcore capture the flag-type game in the mountains, I took a tour of the facility. On the tour with me was an elderly couple. The husband was very inquisitive and curious. For instance, he asked about lethal injection. The tour guide explained that, for all of their lethal injections (i.e., criminals or willing patients), there were three tubes of serum that went into the shot. Each serum is clear. Two are harmless and one is lethal. Three executioners each pushed a button at the same time, which released one tube of the serum into the shot, which was, of course, hooked up to the criminal/patient's vein. This way, the executioners didn't know which one actually administered the lethal dose, so they could sleep easier at night.

The old man taking the tour with me asked if, for the physician-assisted injections, they let loved ones push one of the buttons. Surprisingly, the tour guide said "yes." The old man laughed. I figured he just liked the tour. Then he walked away, and the wife began to cry. As it turns out, she brought him there essentially to put him down, but he had no idea.

The best part is that, at this paramilitary training and civilian execution facility, the music they had piping through the PA system was "Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone" by Cinderella, apparently as a reminder of the gravity of the choice to kill a loved one. Just think about that the next time you hear that song. I know I will.