Most difficult question you have been asked at an Interview?

[pineappletree]

Well, maybe difficult is not the right word. What were some of the questions you've been asked at interviews that could potentially have blindsided you??


I know one of my friends was asked:
"if you saw your close friend cheating out of desperation to pass a class he absolutely needed, what would you do?"
-The obvious answer was to immediately follow protocol and report him to the proper authorities. It's not a difficult answer to deduce, but it is one that goes against your natural instincts (as most interview questions probably are)...

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[lstone13]

The hardest question to answer that I ever got in interview was the following: despite your many successes, what has been your one greatest failure?

That one was a real thinker.

 

[STAT EKG]

After being asked to describe an incident in my clinical experience that involved an ethical dilemma and answering, I was IMMEDIATELY asked to name another, and somehow (I seriously don't even know how.. adrenaline maybe?) I instantly thought of another situation.

Another that you might consider "tough," although I didn't, was when I was asked why there was no research mentioned on my amcas and if I had done any research since. I responded, "Honestly, research isn't my gig. I absolutely do not like research at all and don't see myself going into research." To which, the interviewer laughed a lot, patted me on the shoulder, and said, "You're the most honest person I've interviewed this year, and that's a good thing."

 

[Cyradis]

If you were in a fantasy world for 24 hours, what would you do?

 

[boaz]

"Tell me about yourself." Everyone gets this all the time, but I found it to be the most awkward question ever.

 

[dogenthusiaist]

When do you think we'll have a vaccine for HIV?

 

[pelliper]

After being asked to describe an incident in my clinical experience that involved an ethical dilemma and answering, I was IMMEDIATELY asked to name another, and somehow (I seriously don't even know how.. adrenaline maybe?) I instantly thought of another situation.

Another that you might consider "tough," although I didn't, was when I was asked why there was no research mentioned on my amcas and if I had done any research since. I responded, "Honestly, research isn't my gig. I absolutely do not like research at all and don't see myself going into research." To which, the interviewer laughed a lot, patted me on the shoulder, and said, "You're the most honest person I've interviewed this year, and that's a good thing."

Hey now, some of us are actually interested in academic medicine But you're right, LOTS of people do research so they can put it on their med school app and dont plan on doing research ever again!

"Tell me about yourself." Everyone gets this all the time, but I found it to be the most awkward question ever.

I kept my TMAY's short and sweet. At the start of the interview season I would ramble on and on from this question but later I realized they're just a really lame ice breaker for the interviewer. So just say something about where you're from and some cool things you've done.

 

[FlowRate]

"if you saw your close friend cheating out of desperation to pass a class he absolutely needed, what would you do?"

Despite your many successes, what has been your one greatest failure?

After being asked to describe an incident in my clinical experience that involved an ethical dilemma

Questions like these are why I kinda fear interviews. The first one, if they're really looking for "the protocol answer", is not as clear cut as it may seem--I've sat in on master's level ethics classes where this very question was debated. (there are several ethically acceptable methods of dealing with the situation) Question two is hard because I learn from my failures but I try my best not to remember them (not everyone is super neurotic). Question three is similar.

Gosh I'm more of a rule-breaker than I thought =P

 

[Narmerguy]

If your friend told you he was an alien, how would you handle it?

He said this to me with a completely straight face.

 

[justinbaily]

What's the meaning of life?

Who funds residencies? Which part of Medicare?

I actually had answers to both of these, or at least tried my best on the first one. I was taken by surprise when I was asked because I wasn't expecting either. All of the other "difficult" questions were your typical interview fare.

The residency question was my fault because I steered the interview into hospital funding, medical school economics and health policy. I doubt that it would have been asked as a stock question.

 

[allie1361]

If you could have dinner with 3 people, dead or alive, who would you choose?

Which actress do you most identify with?


Both from my UF interview. WTF...I still don't see the relevance of these questions, and you'll be hard-pressed to convince me that either of these serve any merit in determining whether or not I'll be a good doctor...

 

[PureMotivation]

"Tell me about yourself." Everyone gets this all the time, but I found it to be the most awkward question ever.

Second this. I was unprepared for this question and sort of botched it in my interview. Reflecting on it afterwards, I realized how any person can really make this question work for them, so just be expecting it.

 

[justinbaily]

I love the "three dead people" question. I think that they're trying to determine the sorts of things that you're interested in. I would have picked some authors and a philosopher or film director.

 

[Excelsius]

...
"if you saw your close friend cheating out of desperation to pass a class he absolutely needed, what would you do?"
-The obvious answer was to immediately follow protocol and report him to the proper authorities. It's not a difficult answer to deduce, but it is one that goes against your natural instincts (as most interview questions probably are)...

I think your friend forgot the part about a "close friend." That sounds like a robotic sentence uttered in a communist regime! Don't you think that you are asked some of these questions so you can think about an answer rather than state the short answer that you think you are expected to provide? I think a far better answer would be to try and talk to the friend first, rather than run behind his back and report him. There are multiple solutions to these issues, like trying to help your friend and getting some counseling. It also says something about your character if you're doing well on a test yet your closest friend can't even pass!

A more bold approach: "my friends never cheat."

I think that these sort of questions are directed only at certain applicants. There is nothing ethically hard about them. They reveal maturity levels more than anything else.

 

[FrazzleSnazzle]

After being asked to describe an incident in my clinical experience that involved an ethical dilemma and answering, I was IMMEDIATELY asked to name another, and somehow (I seriously don't even know how.. adrenaline maybe?) I instantly thought of another situation.

I would say the questions that always "threw me off" the most were the ones where you are asked to mention multiple instances of a topic. For example, I had prepared to talk about my biggest strength and my biggest weakness before an interview. The interviewer then asked me to list THREE of my strengths and THREE of my weakness, so I had to do a whole bunch of improvising on the spot. I've also heard that at one school, an applicant was asked to list his/her top ten strengths!

The ethical questions actually aren't that bad because there's typically just a set of cliche ones that nearly all the schools ask so you can prepare specifically for them. From my experience and those of my pre-med friends, the two most common are the cheating example in the OP and the one about a superior doctor at your hospital showing up to work drunk.

 

[Excelsius]

What's the meaning of life?
...

That's the best one I have seen in a long time. You'd probably get in if your start discussing existentialism and its lacks. Chances are that even your interviewer won't be well versed in philosophy.

 

[MossPoh]

I got a pharm math question with conversions between metric and standard (lbs to kg and inches to cm in the same question)

Also, after a ton of softball questions, I got, "Tell me about something that questioned your moral integrity."

which dovetailed into, "If you knew your attending was using drugs while NOT at work, what would you do or say?"

 

[boaz]

I kept my TMAY's short and sweet. At the start of the interview season I would ramble on and on from this question but later I realized they're just a really lame ice breaker for the interviewer. So just say something about where you're from and some cool things you've done.

Second this. I was unprepared for this question and sort of botched it in my interview. Reflecting on it afterwards, I realized how any person can really make this question work for them, so just be expecting it.

When I did my practice interview, that's what he asked first. I rambled about personality etc. and after a minute or so I just couldn't take it anymore and rotlfmao'd. From there on I just stuck to facts: where I was born, grew up, school, work, interesting facts, etc.

 

[marele86]

"What are the areas in life you most need to work on?"
He rejected my ideas about better time-management ("I've seen your scores, that's not something you need to work on!", so I tried to argue that good scores =/= great time management skills, which pissed him off even more. Then after each answer I gave, he would try to draw out ANOTHER one on the spot by saying "Really? REALLY? That's the ONLY thing you need to work on? You're fine the way you are?"

I finally decided to go with the "Yes, I'm happy with the way I am, overall," thing. Wrong answer, haha. Not accepted.

 

[familyaerospace]

If your friend told you he was an alien, how would you handle it?

He said this to me with a completely straight face.

What is sad is that many of my friends have said they were aliens. I've also used the "I'm really an alien" thing to see how new friends of mine will react. Of course, I have a degree in Space Studies, so I think many of my friends really are aliens. My answer would say "Cool!" and then ask them about their culture, world, technology, etc. One time when I told a friend I was an alien, they said they were too and we spent a few hours goofing off and talking about our "home world" and what we were doing on Earth.

 

[familyaerospace]

That's the best one I have seen in a long time. You'd probably get in if your start discussing existentialism and its lacks. Chances are that even your interviewer won't be well versed in philosophy.

But I thought the meaning of life was 42?

 

[NotAsking4Much]

Some of the more ridiculous questions I got asked.

So let's cut out all the BS, why do you want to be a doctor? (the first phrase is the stunning part)?

How do you expect me to believe you did everything on your application? I think you're lying, no one can do all this unless you don't sleep.

In all your activities and leadership, it's all about you. Where's the teamwork? Do you believe in it? (Really?...I thought we're supposed to talk about ourselves...)

 

[mmmcdowe]

What would you like to talk about?

Why don't you spend the next half hour or so giving me an outline of medical history (Don't worry, this was something that I had written my essay on so it wasn't just a random q)

In small group discussion would you better describe yourself as a black hole or a blabberer?

What will be your role in small group?

 

[loveoforganic]

After a bunch of random cordial chit chat about stuff I did for fun, randomly jumped into "tell me the single most interesting fact about yourself."

 

[Kaiv Man]

Why MD and not DO? (Thats immediately after I discussed the importance of a comprehensive perspective on chronic patient care). This was at a top 10 allopathic med school too....

Its honestly hard to answer that question without talking about prestige, stats, etc....

 

[Revilla]

I was asked to do a roleplay. It was after my interviewer asked me how I would counsel patients on living wills. I explained my thoughts and he then asked to do a roleplay scenario with him playing a patient resistant to it.

It caught me off-guard, but it was pretty fun. My interviewers (there were two of them) both had a sense of humor and made it low-stress.

 

[IDoIt4Love]

this may not come as a shock at all to anyone else, but at one interview i was asked, "if you could re-do or take anything back, what would it be, and why?"

i sat there and thought...and thought. i told my interviewer that this sort of question goes against my life philosophy: i don't live with regret because i feel like i've learned something from every mistake i've made, and the best thing i can do is not make the same mistakes twice.

finally, i said that i wouldn't take back a single thing. that i had never made a decision so poor or heinous, nor have i ever hurt anyone so much, that i would wish i could go back in time to redo it.

i thought i bombed the question. i got into that school.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

What are you the most proud of?

 

[pl2gid9sdms]

If you could have dinner with 3 people, dead or alive, who would you choose?

Which actress do you most identify with?


Both from my UF interview. WTF...I still don't see the relevance of these questions, and you'll be hard-pressed to convince me that either of these serve any merit in determining whether or not I'll be a good doctor...

3 people is manageable and reasonable. I had to list 5 people to have dinner with.

 

[FlowRate]

Why MD and not DO? (Thats immediately after I discussed the importance of a comprehensive perspective on chronic patient care). This was at a top 10 allopathic med school too....

Its honestly hard to answer that question without talking about prestige, stats, etc....

Protip: Talk about research opportunities at big-name MD schools. Caveat: This is hard if you're not big on research (unlikely if you're at a top 10)

=)

 

[allie1361]

3 people is manageable and reasonable. I had to list 5 people to have dinner with.

Ouch.

 

[jturkel]

the question that NO ONE can prepare for

My ethical question at Boston University from the chair/dean of the public health school/program (he is an MD/MPH). he also happens to be the individual who runs the health care system in Lesotho (the landlocked island in South Africa) and frequently travels to Indonesia (i skipped a lot of this info so you don't have to read it all):

"So Indonesia is a poor country with many of its citizens living in rural areas relying on an agricultural lifestyle for money and sustenance. Generally, each family has an ox to help on the farm, particularly with the crops. Without an ox, studies have shown that in a family of four, one of the two children will die of malnutrition within 1 year of losing your one ox.

You are the father of a 10 year old son and a 12 year old daughter. Your wife and two children help you on the farm to survive (food, money etc). Unfortunately, one day your ox dies. There is no way to get another ox, as they are $20. You do not have that much money and cannot get that much money as you no longer have an ox to help you with the crops. Surely, one of your two children will die within the year of malnutrition.

One day, a strange man happens upon your farm. He offers you $20 in exchange for your 12 year old daughter, whom he will take into the the city and make her work in prostitution. Do you accept this offer?"

.....curious to hear what you guys think is the right answer. i got it right, according to my interviewer.

 

[milski]

3 people is manageable and reasonable. I had to list 5 people to have dinner with.

The 3 + the spouses of two of them? Whatever your reasons for the 3 are, bringing in the spouse can add some interesting perspectives to the conversation.

As for my friend being alien... I've been an alien for the last 6 years or so. All my friends know about it and I don't see why it would even be an issue. At least as long as I am a legal one.

But I can see how neither of these is really a winning answer.

 

[gumboelephant]

Tell me your biggest weakness and give me a situation in which that weakness could cause harm to a future patient. The first part was easy, the second not so much.

Tell me your weaknesses and strengths. The interviewer then went on to disagree with me on both.

 

[Narmerguy]

this may not come as a shock at all to anyone else, but at one interview i was asked, "if you could re-do or take anything back, what would it be, and why?"

i sat there and thought...and thought. i told my interviewer that this sort of question goes against my life philosophy: i don't live with regret because i feel like i've learned something from every mistake i've made, and the best thing i can do is not make the same mistakes twice.

finally, i said that i wouldn't take back a single thing. that i had never made a decision so poor or heinous, nor have i ever hurt anyone so much, that i would wish i could go back in time to redo it.

i thought i bombed the question. i got into that school.

Eh, why do so many people end their stories with variations of this (sometimes saying I didn't get in or got waitlisted, etc)? It's very possible that you still bombed these questions but was accepted in spite of that. It's not common for one poor answer to tank an interview, yet so many people conclude their stories in a manner that suggests that the question tanked their choice or that the answer was surprisingly well received and thus an acceptance given.

Sorry, didn't mean to target you...it's just a pet peeve of mine.

 

[SweetRain]

the question that NO ONE can prepare for

My ethical question at Boston University from the chair/dean of the public health school/program (he is an MD/MPH). he also happens to be the individual who runs the health care system in Lesotho (the landlocked island in South Africa) and frequently travels to Indonesia (i skipped a lot of this info so you don't have to read it all):

"So Indonesia is a poor country with many of its citizens living in rural areas relying on an agricultural lifestyle for money and sustenance. Generally, each family has an ox to help on the farm, particularly with the crops. Without an ox, studies have shown that in a family of four, one of the two children will die of malnutrition within 1 year of losing your one ox.

You are the father of a 10 year old son and a 12 year old daughter. Your wife and two children help you on the farm to survive (food, money etc). Unfortunately, one day your ox dies. There is no way to get another ox, as they are $20. You do not have that much money and cannot get that much money as you no longer have an ox to help you with the crops. Surely, one of your two children will die within the year of malnutrition.

One day, a strange man happens upon your farm. He offers you $20 in exchange for your 12 year old daughter, whom he will take into the the city and make her work in prostitution. Do you accept this offer?"

.....curious to hear what you guys think is the right answer. i got it right, according to my interviewer.

I'm more curious to hear what you said. I instantly would say no, but I don't really know a good story to back it up. I'd probably get another ox out of loan and pay off the debt over time after harvest. But then again, I don't know how the system works in Indonesia...

 

[jturkel]

I would never ever sell my daughter into prostitution. Wow. If that's not the right answer, I don't know what to say. What'd you say?

i'll post what i said shortly after i give a couple more people an opportunity to guess.

I'm more curious to hear what you said. I instantly would say no, but I don't really know a good story to back it up. I'd probably get another ox out of loan and pay off the debt over time after harvest. But then again, I don't know how the system works in Indonesia...

it was certainly a difficult question and i deliberated over it for a little while, asking if i had any other options....unfortunately, he did not give me the opportunity of taking out a loan or anything else. it was either turn down the offer so i dont get the $20 to buy an ox OR accept the offer, 12 yr old daughter goes into prostitution, i get the $20, buy an ox.

there is no friends, family, neighbors, financial institution, govt, etc that could get me 20 bucks. no amount of hard work would ever get me 20 bucks without having an ox.

 

[IDoIt4Love]

i'll post what i said shortly after i give a couple more people an opportunity to guess.



it was certainly a difficult question and i deliberated over it for a little while, asking if i had any other options....unfortunately, he did not give me the opportunity of taking out a loan or anything else. it was either turn down the offer so i dont get the $20 to buy an ox OR accept the offer, 12 yr old daughter goes into prostitution, i get the $20, buy an ox.

there is no friends, family, neighbors, financial institution, govt, etc that could get me 20 bucks. no amount of hard work would ever get me 20 bucks without having an ox.

sounds like he doesn't have much of a choice; he either sells his daughter, or everyone dies. if possible, i would offer myself (or my wife, if i were a man) instead of my young daughter, but if the man doesn't accept, i would do my best to mentally prepare my daughter to process and accept this decision. desperate times call for desperate measures; any other choice would mean you'd rather let your children die.

 

[pinecones]

the question that NO ONE can prepare for

My ethical question at Boston University from the chair/dean of the public health school/program (he is an MD/MPH). he also happens to be the individual who runs the health care system in Lesotho (the landlocked island in South Africa) and frequently travels to Indonesia (i skipped a lot of this info so you don't have to read it all):

"So Indonesia is a poor country with many of its citizens living in rural areas relying on an agricultural lifestyle for money and sustenance. Generally, each family has an ox to help on the farm, particularly with the crops. Without an ox, studies have shown that in a family of four, one of the two children will die of malnutrition within 1 year of losing your one ox.

You are the father of a 10 year old son and a 12 year old daughter. Your wife and two children help you on the farm to survive (food, money etc). Unfortunately, one day your ox dies. There is no way to get another ox, as they are $20. You do not have that much money and cannot get that much money as you no longer have an ox to help you with the crops. Surely, one of your two children will die within the year of malnutrition.

One day, a strange man happens upon your farm. He offers you $20 in exchange for your 12 year old daughter, whom he will take into the the city and make her work in prostitution. Do you accept this offer?"

.....curious to hear what you guys think is the right answer. i got it right, according to my interviewer.

accept. be pragmatic and save both kids.

 

[SweetRain]

i'll post what i said shortly after i give a couple more people an opportunity to guess.



it was certainly a difficult question and i deliberated over it for a little while, asking if i had any other options....unfortunately, he did not give me the opportunity of taking out a loan or anything else. it was either turn down the offer so i dont get the $20 to buy an ox OR accept the offer, 12 yr old daughter goes into prostitution, i get the $20, buy an ox.

there is no friends, family, neighbors, financial institution, govt, etc that could get me 20 bucks. no amount of hard work would ever get me 20 bucks without having an ox.

In that case, I think I would have no other choice to give away the daughter. It just reminds me of one part in "The Kite Runner" (for those who read it)

Yes, I guess it's more about prioritizing with a cold head. I remember someone got a question like "Would you help a notorious drug lord who is in a life or death situation or a little girl who came in with a chronic condition?"

The whole prostitution part just freaks me out.

 

[IDoIt4Love]

my dad, as a side note, said he'd probably shoot the guy, shoot his whole family, and then shoot himself, b/c he feels that giving her away just to survive a meaningless, miserable life is pointless and that if he isn't living for something, he'd rather die. i told him that that answer may not go over too well with a guy who wants to assess your potential to be a doctor and treat others, lol. needless to say, he's an engineer, not a physician.

 

[chman]

This is a cool thread. I have not interviewed at med schools yet, but I have had some similar questions at job interviews. The one that I always find hard is, "What is your biggest weakness." I find it hard because on one hand you could give some BS answer and they would know that, or you could give the real answer and risk that being used against you.

 

[chman]

the question that NO ONE can prepare for

My ethical question at Boston University from the chair/dean of the public health school/program (he is an MD/MPH). he also happens to be the individual who runs the health care system in Lesotho (the landlocked island in South Africa) and frequently travels to Indonesia (i skipped a lot of this info so you don't have to read it all):

"So Indonesia is a poor country with many of its citizens living in rural areas relying on an agricultural lifestyle for money and sustenance. Generally, each family has an ox to help on the farm, particularly with the crops. Without an ox, studies have shown that in a family of four, one of the two children will die of malnutrition within 1 year of losing your one ox.

You are the father of a 10 year old son and a 12 year old daughter. Your wife and two children help you on the farm to survive (food, money etc). Unfortunately, one day your ox dies. There is no way to get another ox, as they are $20. You do not have that much money and cannot get that much money as you no longer have an ox to help you with the crops. Surely, one of your two children will die within the year of malnutrition.

One day, a strange man happens upon your farm. He offers you $20 in exchange for your 12 year old daughter, whom he will take into the the city and make her work in prostitution. Do you accept this offer?"

.....curious to hear what you guys think is the right answer. i got it right, according to my interviewer.

Kick the guy in the balls and take his $20 dollars to buy an ox?

 

[SweetRain]

my dad, as a side note, said he'd probably shoot the guy, shoot his whole family,

 

[austinap]

the question that NO ONE can prepare for

My ethical question at Boston University from the chair/dean of the public health school/program (he is an MD/MPH). he also happens to be the individual who runs the health care system in Lesotho (the landlocked island in South Africa) and frequently travels to Indonesia (i skipped a lot of this info so you don't have to read it all):

"So Indonesia is a poor country with many of its citizens living in rural areas relying on an agricultural lifestyle for money and sustenance. Generally, each family has an ox to help on the farm, particularly with the crops. Without an ox, studies have shown that in a family of four, one of the two children will die of malnutrition within 1 year of losing your one ox.

You are the father of a 10 year old son and a 12 year old daughter. Your wife and two children help you on the farm to survive (food, money etc). Unfortunately, one day your ox dies. There is no way to get another ox, as they are $20. You do not have that much money and cannot get that much money as you no longer have an ox to help you with the crops. Surely, one of your two children will die within the year of malnutrition.

One day, a strange man happens upon your farm. He offers you $20 in exchange for your 12 year old daughter, whom he will take into the the city and make her work in prostitution. Do you accept this offer?"

.....curious to hear what you guys think is the right answer. i got it right, according to my interviewer.

This might not be the answer they're looking for, but I think "1 of 2 die, or daughter grows up in prostitution" is a false dichotomy. Those may be the two obvious answers given the information, but there are almost always other options considering how severe those two are. For example, send the daughter to a big city to become a beggar. Send both kids off to beg. Do anything else to lessen your burden of feeding them.

Depending on who you ask, a life in prostitution could be worse than dying at a young age. In addition, in that part of the world, prostitutes don't have extremely good prospects either: there's a good chance she'd die from an STD or a violent death by the time she hits 25 anyhow.

 

[softmed]

The hardest question to answer that I ever got in interview was the following: despite your many successes, what has been your one greatest failure?

That one was a real thinker.

If you're a reapplicant that's the easiest question ever.

 

[jturkel]

accept. be pragmatic and save both kids.

essentially, yes. i had to explain my reasoning as part of the answer, which i will go into at the end of all of these responses.

In that case, I think I would have no other choice to give away the daughter. It just reminds me of one part in "The Kite Runner" (for those who read it)

Yes, I guess it's more about prioritizing with a cold head. I remember someone got a question like "Would you help a notorious drug lord who is in a life or death situation or a little girl who came in with a chronic condition?"

The whole prostitution part just freaks me out.

great book. unfortunately, you have no other choice...so selling her to the stranger is correct.

my dad, as a side note, said he'd probably shoot the guy, shoot his whole family, and then shoot himself, b/c he feels that giving her away just to survive a meaningless, miserable life is pointless and that if he isn't living for something, he'd rather die. i told him that that answer may not go over too well with a guy who wants to assess your potential to be a doctor and treat others, lol. needless to say, he's an engineer, not a physician.

haha. that's hilarious. that would likely would not have gone over well with my interviewer.

Kick the guy in the balls and take his $20 dollars to buy an ox?

noo though my interviewer may have laughed. he had a very interesting sense of humor for a guy in his late 60s/early 70s.

This might not be the answer they're looking for, but I think "1 of 2 die, or daughter grows up in prostitution" is a false dichotomy. Those may be the two obvious answers given the information, but there are almost always other options considering how severe those two are. For example, send the daughter to a big city to become a beggar. Send both kids off to beg. Do anything else to lessen your burden of feeding them.

Depending on who you ask, a life in prostitution could be worse than dying at a young age. In addition, in that part of the world, prostitutes don't have extremely good prospects either: there's a good chance she'd die from an STD or a violent death by the time she hits 25 anyhow.

i looked for every way out of this only to have him shoot me down each time as not being a possibility. His responses for the other possibilities I suggested would have led him to say that sending the daughter off to the city without getting an ox would never get her the 20 bucks. She would have never made it to the city as it is far away or something. It just wouldn't have been an option. He may have also said that if you send one kid off without getting $20, you will be another person short and will be unable to successfully cultivate your crops since you just barely get by with everyone's help. there just is no other choice. it's just those two in the scenario he presented.

ironically, after this question, he asked me about my thoughts on prostitution, which led to his telling me a story about a friend of his who started off as a high school drop out, then a prostitute, then massage therapist with happy endings (yes, my interviewer said that), supported her 2 kids this way and her education.....and then after i told him my feelings about prostitution, told me the punch line that she is now the CEO of a huge software company. utterly ridiculous. he swears it is true. i wasn't about to argue that point with him lol.

sounds like he doesn't have much of a choice; he either sells his daughter, or everyone dies. if possible, i would offer myself (or my wife, if i were a man) instead of my young daughter, but if the man doesn't accept, i would do my best to mentally prepare my daughter to process and accept this decision. desperate times call for desperate measures; any other choice would mean you'd rather let your children die.

he woudn't want your wife. she would be too old probably.

 

[chemgeek62]

Kick the guy in the balls and take his $20 dollars to buy an ox?

made me laugh, thanks for making my night!

 

[jturkel]

so after i tried suggesting every possibility out there to avoid making a decision, i had to come to one. the reasoning i gave him went something like this:

"Well, in America, prostitution is illegal, unethical, and wrong. As a father in America or anywhere else for that matter, I would never sell my daughter into prostitution. However, this is a life or death situation. If I don't sell my daughter, I don't get $20 to get an ox. If I don't sell my daughter, one of my kids will die, and thereafter, possibly my other or my wife. At this point, I have to unfortunately sell my daughter so that no one dies, for surely someone surely will on this farm if i don't get the $20 and my ox.

While selling her into prostitution certainly doesn't guarantee that she would live, it does mean that for sure someone will not 100% die in my family. now, the odds of us all living are greater. she has a chance or opportunity to make money, perhaps send some home if need be, possibly escape, and move up in the world. as much as i would hate to see it, that is the decision i would make."

he said i made the correct answer and supported it. he said he went to a public health conference in Indonesia and spoke with many other renowned public health people who had apparently done studies on this.

one such study asked Indonesia mother's essentially the same question: Would you sell your daughter into prostitution for an ox and so no one dies in your family? Apparently, this not being an infrequent happening in rural Indonesia, 90% of the mothers responded "yes."

 

[sustentacular]

i'll post what i said shortly after i give a couple more people an opportunity to guess.

Kill the man, take his $20.