1 March 2010
What would be your last supper?
Take a look at this archive of last meals requested by prisoners on death row in Texas?
http://web.archive.org/web/20031202214318/www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/finalmeals.htm
Although they no longer publish this list, Archive.org has a copy from several years ago.
I’ll admit up front that this post has nothing to do with investing or finance, although I did see an interesting discussion regarding state’s rules for how much can be spent on a final meal. I started to read the list just out of interest to see what people requested. Many were traditional meals, though generally larger than standard, such as:
Two 16 oz. ribeyes, one lb. turkey breast (sliced thin), twelve strips of bacon, two large hamburgers with mayo, onion, and lettuce, two large baked potatoes with butter, sour cream, cheese, and chives, four slices of cheese or one-half pound of grated cheddar cheese, chef salad with blue cheese dressing, two ears of corn on the cob, one pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and four vanilla Cokes or Mr. Pibb
Many were a bit odd, such as:
One cup of hot tea (from tea bags) and six chocolate chip cookies
Cool Whip and cherries
One pot of coffee
1 bag of assorted Jolly Ranchers
1 jar of dill pickles
Justice, Equality, World Peace
Quite a few requested no meal at all. As I began to think about it a little bit, I thought I might fall into the “No Meal Requested” category. What’s the point? Can you imagine for a moment sitting in a jail cell spending the last few hours of your life contemplating what is about to happen and what your life’s work has resulted in? It’s very sad to think about. What do you think their motivation is when requesting some of the outlandish meals? For some, maybe it is one last cry for attention. Maybe they are just delaying the inevitable hoping for a last second miracle. Or maybe they are so hardened that they figure that they might as well enjoy one last physical pleasure before they move on.
Maybe I would order something after all. I guess for me, it’s a bit difficult to put myself in their shoes anyway. If I believed in a better afterlife, I probably would be in a fairly good mood and might as well enjoy a meal. If I believed that I was headed for Hell, I probably would get one last shot at gluttony. If I believed neither, then “Hey, why not?”
Would you request a meal? If so, what?
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2 Comments currently posted.
Chris Sumpter says:
Ken says:
I’ve thought about this. Not the actual menu, but the timing. I’d request my last meal three or four days before the execution. I have this thing about being executed with a big glob of undigested food in my gut.
I think I would follow the example of many of these inmates and have chicken fried steak.