Who would you save?

I found the following on someone's blog:

An old woman (very nice grandma type) and a small child are being dangled over a cliff and you are the only person that can save them. The dilemma? You can only save one and know that. Which one do you save and why? Keep in mind that they are both looking up at you with extreme pleading in their eyes.

My answer: As INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT as it would be, I think that I would choose the small child, only because he or she would have their whole life ahead of them and the older woman would have had more of a chance to live. To be honest, if ever presented with that situation I'm not entirely sure how I'd react and would obviously try to save both, but would then probably end up losing both. I hope I'm never in a situation like that.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts:

It is like that in the gay community... over 30 - over the hill...

It is not my rationalization to choose to save one based on age and possible life experiences. How about if I told you the lady was in the middle of a cure for cancer and the child is Hitler? You cannot base everything based on age alone.

I would save the one who I could get to first. I would save the one it would be the safest for me to save; In otherwords I would watch out for number one. If I fall over the cliff with the one I save, I really have done no good to anyone, therefore it would come down to a triage:

Who can I safely get to?
Which one can I get to at all?

How would you answer this if, instead it was two men of the same age and upbringing. However one is severely retarded and one has average brain power? Would you save the normal guy, because no one would want to live as a retard? That is the same as saying the old person has already lived a good life. You're making a decision on someone elses life bases on flawed criteria.

What if the old lady was yet to become a grandma, and her daughter was going to give birth the next day to a grandchild the elderly woman so dearly wanted?

Bottom line age is not a good determining factor. It is shallow and opens a can of worms that will lead to elderly extermination by the child you saved!