Episode 153: Would You Rather...

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Ian: Hey everyone, you are listening to “Coffee with Gringos”. I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And I'm Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And today we're going to be asking ourselves some fun, wacky, sometimes wild questions. And these are questions that we call, “would you rather” questions. So, these are questions that are basically hypothetical and we're asking ourselves, would we make this choice or that choice? Now, these are fun and interesting and there's really no wrong answer. Everyone has their own prerogative when choosing these, but they're not easy. So, Paige and I thought it would be fun for us to go through those today, ask each other some of these questions, and figure out what we would do. So, as always, listeners, go online and check out that audio guide and transcript at www.dynamicenglish.cl. Okay, so Paige—these kinds of questions are great when I'm teaching in class when we are learning about asking hypothetical questions or conditionals. So, that word “would”, we're basically saying, okay, we have a choice here we have to make. And in our case, we're going to be asking some weird, silly, wacky questions in this sort of way. So, the first one I'm going to go ahead and ask you is, would you rather lose the ability to read or lose the ability to speak?

Paige: Oh, that's a very tough one because I feel like you need both of these abilities for all jobs and just general day of life. This one's really tough. I feel like I would have to go with I lose the ability to speak only because there is sign language and I can write things down and so there's a way for me to still communicate where if I can't read, I don't know what job I could do. I think it would make my life really hard and there's no really way to go around that. I don't know but that one's really tough. What about you, Ian?

Ian: Yeah and, like I said at the beginning, these are all tough and it seems like there's either wrong or there's no right or wrong answer, but either way you feel like it's a tough one. So, I think if I really had to choose between the two, maybe I would do the opposite of what you said. So, that way, I mean of course, like you said, you'd be less educated, it would be hard to find a lot of like modern jobs, but I think just the ability to speak, it would be so difficult to get by—just even surviving—without being able to speak. Like you said, there are options for sign language, things like that, but again, I think just overall survival, maybe speaking would get you a little bit further. But that wouldn't necessarily be the best quality of life but that's why we can't look too deep into each of these questions. You pick an answer and you move on because you can spend all day thinking about it.

Paige: Well, yeah that's why these are fun is because they’re brain teasers. There’s no really good answer. They both suck. It’s what's the best of two evils. Okay, next on—would you rather be covered in fur or covered in scales?

Ian: Okay, good one. Well first off, for our listeners who might not know what scales particularly mean or fur, fur is the name we use for animal hair, basically. So, the hair that covers dogs, cats, etc., and scales are sort of like the slimy skin pieces that are on a fish or aquatic animals. So, just to clear that up. I think in this case, I think I would have to go with fur. I think fur it would be, of course, it has pros and cons for each. Fur, you could stay warm during the winter. I think fur is a little bit more comfortable than slimy, nasty scales and you would probably be more popular with people. It’s kind of like how people treat dogs. They could touch your fur. People aren't going to want to touch your scales really. So, I think you would just be a little bit more adorable, a little bit more likable, and be a little bit more comfortable with fur instead of scales. I don't know, that that's my personal choice. What about you?

Paige: Yeah, I would have to agree with you. I mean, scales are nasty. I think people would be afraid of you and, like you said, if you have fur like you're a dog, you're cute, you can be pet and also be pretty warm in the winter. You could do some sweet skiing and hiking in the winter and not even need a jacket.

Ian: Exactly. That would be nice. You'd have to be like having more clothing on all the time. So, yeah that's a funny one.

Paige: Hey, Ian. Did you know besides the podcast, Dynamic English offers one-on-one classes with native teachers from all over the world?

Ian: Really? But isn't it just a bunch of grammar lessons?

Paige: Nope, it's completely discussion-based and focuses on topics the student is interested in.

Ian: That's amazing. But what if I'm not living in Chile?

Paige: No problem. Dynamic does online classes. You can be living anywhere.

Ian: Great, but I'm a little intimidated to take the class alone. Can I join with a friend?

Paige: Of course. Dynamic offers group classes of up to four. Plus, for the next month, Coffee with Gringos listeners get 10% off individual or group classes. So go online to www.dynamicenglish.cl and mention that you are a listener and get your discount.

Ian: Well, I'm sold. Sign me up.

Ian: Okay, the next one we have—would you rather be in jail for a year or lose a year off of your life?

Paige: This one I feel like is pretty easy. I would rather lose a year of my life. I mean, being in jail for a whole year sounds miserable. I've watched all the TV shows, it looks like a pretty terrible lifestyle so I'd rather just lose a year. What about you?

Ian: 100% agree. I think this is one of the easiest ones on the list because also, being in jail for a year, jail is so scary and so dangerous that you might die in jail in that year. So, if I have the choice between just take a year off my life or risk all of that for one year in prison, it's kind of a no-brainer. I'm going to say, you know what, one year? Whatever, go ahead and take it away. If I die at seventy-five instead of seventy-six, whatever. It's better than being locked up in prison. So that's probably the easiest one we have on our list here today.

Paige: The next one—would you rather always be ten minutes late or always be twenty minutes early?

Ian: I think for me personally, this one's another kind of an easier one and I think that because I would have to always be twenty minutes early. I would prefer that. I'm someone who, I'm really punctual. And I actually get anxiety if I'm running late or if I'm holding someone up, if I'm keeping someone late for something. And so, the idea of always being ten minutes late would mean I was always anxious, always in a hurry, always worried about getting somewhere late. The twenty minutes early, it could be a little bit old because you have to kill time but I guess you could read a book or you could, I don't know. Just the idea of having more time and being relaxed and not having to rush places is a lot more preferable for me.

Paige: How did you get used to the Chilean way?

Ian: I know, exactly. I would say culture-wise it's definitely different. There have definitely been times where I was freaking out that I was a few minutes late and then, no big deal. A lot of times down here, Chilean time is, take your time, get there when you get there and it's all good. So, I think this one has a lot to do with culture as well, but for me, no. I hate being late.

Paige: Yeah, I would have to agree with you. I am very punctual and it gives me anxiety if I'm running late. And especially nowadays it's like you're twenty minutes early, you have the internet on your phone, you can send an email, send a text, you can look something up, you can go on Instagram. There's enough stuff that you can do while you're waiting.

Ian: Okay, our next one we have is—would you rather have one real “Get Out of Jail Free” card or a key that opens any door, also known as a skeleton key?

Paige: The way I live my life, I don't expect to go to jail. I'm pretty law-abiding, and so I don't feel like I would need a “get out of jail card”. Knock on wood. So, I feel like having a key to open all doors would be pretty cool. I mean, I'm not quite sure what I would need that for either, because I wouldn't want to commit a crime and then I go to jail, and then I'm like, I wish I had that “get out of jail” card. But yeah, I think that would be cool maybe if you forgot your keys or you’re treasure hunting. I don't know. What about you?

Ian: Yeah, I agree. I hope that with my lifestyle that I'm not going to be doing anything that gets me thrown in jail. So, I guess if I was a criminal, this would be a harder question or it'd be an easier question, so I'd take that “Get Out of Jail Free” card. Yeah, I mean having a skeleton key being able to open any door, that'd be amazing, whether I would use it ethically every time or not. But it would be amazing to have that ability whether you need to get in through your own door or someone else's door, whatever it might be. It would be nice to have that all the time but I don't want to be in jail at any point so, we'll push that out.

Paige: Yeah, that's generally the goal in life, one of them—don't go to jail.

Ian: Don't find ourselves in that situation.

Paige: Okay, next one. Okay, would you rather have all traffic lights you approach be green or never have to stand in line again? That's a good one.

Ian: Yeah, this is a good one. This is a little bit more difficult. Hmm, I think for me personally, at least at this point in my life, I'm standing in line a lot more than I'm driving on the road. So, for me I think it would be amazing to be able to go anywhere and not have to stand in line. You don't have to wait in line at the pharmacy, supermarket, wherever it might be. You can just go straight to it. That would be amazing. Of course, it'd be amazing to have green lights and never have to stop at any of those but I think the question kind of comes down to, do you drive more than you walk, or do you run more errands in person than you run your car? So, for me personally, I would take that no lines. Oh, that'd be amazing. What about you?

Paige: Even though I drive a lot, I feel like waiting in line sucks, because you stop at a light, you're going to wait probably a maximum of five minutes, not that long but you could wait in a line and it could be an hour. It could be so long and there's no indication of how long and I'm a pretty impatient person so I really hate waiting in line and just seeing it not move, and you’re counting how many people are ahead and it's like, “do something else like listen to a podcast…” but it's so hard because you just are focused on how much you have to wait until you get helped. So yeah, even though I drive, I feel like 100% I would never want to wait in line again. It sucks. Okay, next one. Would you rather go back to age five with everything you know now or know now everything your future self will learn?

Ian: Wow. Yeah, this is a tough one. I think I'm already a lot wiser than I was at a young age and so, I think with all the things that I've learned, it's a good start but, obviously, there's a lot more to learn and so I still think by the time that I die, I really hope to learn a whole lot more and become a lot better than I am now. So, if that's the case, I would like to know all of that now and just go ahead and get started that on that path or start that success early. It's kind of the same idea with age five, but I don't know if I would want to go back and be the smartest five-year-old ever knowing what I know now. I still probably wouldn't be the smartest five-year-old ever, but having all of that and then also having to go through high school and all that again—puberty—I don't know if I'd want to do that again. I think I'd rather just take that knowledge from the future and use it in my present day. What about you? What do you think?

Paige: I think I would do the opposite. I feel like past age five is such crucial ages of your life where you make so many important decisions of who your friends are in high school, who shaped what your values are, and what you want to do and where you go to college, and what career path you choose. So, I think being in our thirties, we have had to make a lot of important decisions that shaped where we are right now and who we are. So, I feel like knowing that at age five, maybe you would choose different paths, go somewhere else and to a different college that had a major that maybe was more suited for you or a different geographic area or something that now that you're like, oh, I wish I knew that back then. I would have done XYZ. Where I think it's like, what you said, it would be cool to know in the future too now but I feel like we have a little less developmental decision as we did back then. I don't know. It's a tough one though.

Ian: It's a tough one. Yeah, this is a really hard one. Okay, and our last one for today is going to be a travel-related one since that's one of our favorite things. So, would you rather travel the world for a year on a shoestring budget—shoestring meaning very cheap, economical—or stay only in one country for a year but live in complete luxury?

Paige: This is very hard. I mean, I honestly think this one is also very age-dependent where I think in my twenties, the first option would be amazing. Just being able to see so many different countries and cultures and meet so many cool people. So, I would probably give that I'm not too old, I would probably choose the first one. But I think in like ten years, maybe even five more years, the second option sounds amazing to just live in an amazing country, stay, really get immersed, and be in a really nice place.

Ian: Live like a king or queen for a year.

Paige: Yeah. What about you, Ian?

Ian: Yeah, again, it's tough if you look at it from age and an economic standpoint if you have a lot of money or if you don't, but I think if I had to choose between the two, I think there's something more exciting about traveling to many different places on a shoestring budget. Just keep it cheap, kind of backpack style, and just see as much of the world as you could in a year. Which, in a year, I mean you can see a lot of different places so for me, it's a question of do you want to really get to know one place or do you want to experience multiple places? So, I think in the end, it would come down to, I would want to see as much as I could.

Paige: Fair. Yeah, it is tough though. I feel like it would be so easy in my twenties, 100% the first one, but as I've aged more, I'm like, do I really want to sleep on the ground and hitchhike and stay in a hostel with thirty people? I'm at the age where I'm deciding more and more no.

Ian: No, exactly. Yeah, things change so that's again, that's why these questions are so great. There are so many different factors that play into what decision you would make. So, listeners, we just went through a handful of these questions. There are many more. We could have many episodes in the future on these and perhaps we'll do another one in the future. But it's a fun game to play with your friends as well. You know, ask these questions to each other, figure out what decisions you would make, and really practice using that language to describe what decision you would make in a certain scenario. As we mentioned before listeners, go online and check out that audio guide and transcript at www.dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.

Paige: We'll see you next time.

Ian: “Coffee with Gringos” officially has over one hundred episodes and we are among the “Top Podcasts in Chile”. And that’s thanks to you. But we are always working to grow our audience so make sure to rate sure to rate, review and share us.  

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     wacky (adjective): funny; amusing; odd

a.     Today we are going to have a wacky topic to discuss.

2.     hypothetical (adjective): based on a possible reality but not necessarily true.

a.     We are going to cover many hypothetical questions today.

3.     prerogative (noun): right or privilege.

a.     It’s your prerogative to decide what you do with your time.

4.     to suck (verb): to be very bad, disagreeable, or disgusting.

a.     The weather sucks today so we can’t go to the beach.

5.     slimy (adjective): covered by slime or a wet substance similar to a fish.

a.     Having fish scales would be slimy all the time.

6.     to pet (verb): to touch or stroke an animal with affection.

a.     Everyone always wants to pet the cute dogs in the park.

7.     no brainer (idiom): an extremely easy or obvious choice.

a.     Spending the weekend at the beach was a no-brainer.

8.     to hold someone up (idiom): to keep someone waiting.

a.     I hate the feeling of being late and holding someone up.

9.     to freak out (phrasal verb): to react in an extreme or crazy way.

a.     He is going to freak out when he sees the damage we did.

10.  law-abiding (adjective): obedient to the laws of society.

a.     Being a law-abiding citizen will likely keep you out of jail.

11.  knock on wood (idiom): expression said after a positive statement in hopes that the good luck continues.

a.     I have never broken a bone before in my life—knock on wood.

12.  errand (noun): something that has to be done as a task or chore outside of the house.

a.     I have many errands to take care of this weekend so I won’t be able to come.

13.  indication (noun): a sign or piece of information that demonstrates or shows something.

a.     The visit between the governments was an indication of the improvement in the relations.

14.  puberty (noun): The period during which adolescents reach sexual maturity.

a.     Puberty is such an uncomfortable time for young people.

15.  crucial (adjective): decisive; critical; very important.

a.     It is crucial that we get the information to the right people.

16.  suited (adjective): right or appropriate for a particular person, purpose or situation.

a.     He is very well suited to working with computers.

17.  to immerse (verb): to involve oneself deeply or completely in a particular activity or interest.

a.     It’s important to immerse oneself in a subject to completely understand it.

18.  to hitchhike (verb): to travel by getting free rides in passing vehicles.

a.      He left school as a young man and decided to hitchhike across the country.