Who gets killed

How would you decide? Who deserves it? What benefit would there be in making sure only the right ones die sooner than genetics plus lifestyle choices would dictate?

There have been times when I worked around a body or two a day. I got used to them in every configuration and point in decay. If I work at it I could remember most of the children, some of the young adults, a few adults. They have to be spectacular at this point to keep fresh in my mind.

Most of us who have to work around the constant carnage a city like Los Angeles can produce become somewhat detached from the scene. There are about four million people living here. They are all over the place in terms of demographics, and levels of selfishness versus responsibility. People are killed crossing the street. I get rashes of those, in one week there have been up to three.

There was the drunk flying like a gooney bird on his wobbly feet with a forty ounce bottle of malt liquor who ran himself into a moving fire truck. The closest crosswalk was a hundred yards away, not a close call, not an easy vehicle to ignore. At the right angle of view you could see the outline of the running man, outstretched hand, and place where the mostly emptied bottle had shattered on the truck, just below the windshield. I was caught smiling behind the camera having just noticed the embossed image made by the gooney running forty ounce relay runner. So, an older fireman came up wondering about me. I had him look through the camera. He turned around and said “ey cap, look-it this!” Soon there was a small crowd including the city's team that is in charge of such investigations. They figure out things like rolling speed, friction coefficient and lots of other rocket science I just nod in approval about and then try to get the shots they need.

So does that fella deserve to get killed or did he just earn it?