History Main / ImThinkingItOver

'''Starscream:''' ''[turning to Megatron]'' Master! Are you going to allow one lieutenant to harm another?! ''[Megatron remains silent]'' Master?!\\

'''Starscream:''' ''[turning to Megatron]'' Master! Are you going to allow one lieutenant to harm another?!\\
''[Megatron remains silent]''\\
'''Starscream:''' Master?!!\\

'''Rabbit''': COME ON! ''grabs Pooh''

* In Stephen Manes' ''Chicken Trek'' Oscar is being forced by his inventor cousin to enter a [[RoadTripPlot coast-to-coast]] chicken-eating contest so he can use the grand prize to pay for the one-of-a-kind camera he accidentally [[PricelessMingVase dropped and broke]]. Faced with the prospect of eating nothing but chicken for two months, he objects.

-->'''Jack:''' All I know is that you're my best friend. No one is going to take that trust away from me. We've been together through too much for me to just discard it over something someone said. You could kill somebody and I would just hide the body for you. Nothing is going to tear us apart.\\

-->'''Knight:''' Woah, wait. These have those creepy individual toes.\\

->'''Mugger:''' Don't make a move, this is a stick-up.... Now, come on -- your money or your life.\\

Sometimes, the choice the character is put before offers something s/he wants or needs, but accepting it would mean breaking some sort of a personal rule (like agreeing with the stupid member of the party). Or the character is just tired of being SurroundedByIdiots and [[WouldRatherSuffer the option of being killed sounds oddly inviting]].

* Scrooge [=McDuck=], to no-one's surprise, reacts this way in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'' when the genie, while they're hiding form the murderous villain, tries to get Scrooge to wish them to safety:

'''Bernadette''': Oh, my God! Are you actually thinking about it?

'''Jack Benny:''' (''long pause'')\\

!!Examples

-->'''Ms. Deep:''' Which is more important, your life or that book?
-->(''Yomiko visibly mulls it over'')

[[folder: Comics]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

[Silence]\\

'''Police officer:''' They want your case of Wonka Bars. ''(Mrs. Curtis says nothing)'' Mrs. Curtis, did you hear me? It's your husband's life or your case of Wonka Bars!\\

''({{beat}})''\\

'''Constantine:''' ''(long pause, stares at her, nodding to himself)''\\

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', the episode "Inca Mummy Girl" gives us a unique exchange where a person needs time to answer their own "question".
-->'''Willow:''' I have a choice. I can spend my life waiting for Xander to go out with every girl in the world until he notices me, or I can just get on with my life.\\

''(the nurses keep drinking their coffee without reacting at all)''\\

* Bester was REALLY asking for it in ''Series/BabylonFive''.

** It perhaps doesn't help that at least one of B5's command staff actually did plan to have Bester killed previously before being convinced [[HeWhoFightsMonsters it was a bad move]].

''(long pause)''\\

* Leonard in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' spends a little too long contemplating laser surgery as an alternative to just going to get his spare glasses from his apartment, because Sheldon's in there with a cold.

--->'''Bernadette''': No, here's how love works. You're gonna return the machine or you can print out a working set of lady parts and sleep with those!
--->'''Howard''': [pondering]
--->'''Bernadette''': Oh, my God! Are you actually thinking about it?

--> '''Leland Stottlemeyer:''' ''[exasperated]'' It's either stay here for another week or go home and get shot in the head!"
--> '''Adrian Monk:''' (looking around the cabin, thinking) "Stay here...get shot in the head..."

--> '''Mr. Furley:''' But there's nothing we can do, Jack!
--> '''Jack:''' Yes, there is. We can huddle together.
--> '''Furley''' (''tersely'')''':''' Huddle together?
--> '''Jack:''' To keep warm! It's either that or freeze to death!
--> ({{Beat}})
--> '''Jack:''' ''Well!?''
--> '''Furley:''' I'm thinking!! I'm thinking!!

-->'''Sam:''' Doesn't make any sense. I was laying on the table. Naked. Me!
-->'''Polly:''' You want me touch you down there?
-->'''Sam:''' {{Beat}}...[[LesYay Beat]]...[[RuleOfThree Beat]]...Um...no, no thanks.

--> Queen Elizabeth I: Lord Percy...
--> Lord Percy Percy: Yes?
--> Queen Elizabeth I: It's up to you. Either you can shut up, or you can have your head cut off.
--> Lord Percy Percy: [pulls 'thinking about it' expressions for around 13 seconds] I'll shut up.

'''Charlotte:''' ''(very confused)'' I... choose money. ''(beat)'' Does anyone choose life?

* The famous ''Radio/TheJackBennyProgram'' bit quoted above is the trope namer. The routine first appeared on the March 28, 1948 broadcast, in which Jack was robbed of Ronald Colman's Oscar after borrowing it. His uncertainty stems from the character's well-known [[TheScrooge stinginess]]: during the pause, which kept getting longer and longer, the audience was already laughing at the thought of Jack having to make such a difficult decision.

[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
* Creator/EmoPhillips tells a story of offering to rescue a drowning woman if she will have sex with him. So she thinks it over..
[[/folder]]

-->'''Simmons:''' Shouldn't you at least read us our charges?
-->'''Soldier:''' You know what you did. You were in charge of our ammunition, and you lost it all!
-->'''Grif:''' Don't you think it's ironic that you're about to shoot us because we don't have enough ammo? Also, 'lost' and 'sold to the other team'? Two totally different things.
-->'''Soldier:''' Oh, you're just delaying.
-->'''Simmons:''' Yes, that's true, but it's also true that you have to read us a list of charges. It's in the Red Army Handbook, section on firing squads, subsection 2.9C, page 94, third paragraph.
-->'''Grif:''' You are going to die a nerd. So sad.
-->'''Simmons:''' Do you want to die in the next two seconds, [[MortonsFork or do you want to die a nerd with me five minutes from now?]]
-->'''Grif:''' ''({{Beat}})''
-->'''Simmons:''' Well!?
-->'''Grif:''' I'm ''thinking''!

''({{beat panel}})''\\

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''

-->'''Elan:''' Ooh! C'mon! Pick me!\\

-->'''Roy:''' Before meeting Elan, I would have never weighted the pro's and con's of being eaten by a dragon.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''
--> '''Agatha:''' Let me put it this way...help me save Othar or I'll hit you with a STICK!\\
''({{beat panel}})''\\
''(beat panel)''\\
''([[RuleOfThree beat panel]])''\\

* ''Webcomic/{{XKCD}}'' has [[https://www.xkcd.com/1065/ a pair of shoes that let you outrun death]].
-->'''Knight:''' Woah, wait. These have those creepy individual toes.
-->'''Heavenly voice:''' But they make you immortal.
-->'''Knight:''' ...I have to think about this.
* In ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'', {{Satan}} gives Tycho a choice- be tormented for all eternity or play the Seed demo. Tycho says "Do I have to answer right now?", which isn't as much a case of him having SkewedPriorities as a TakeThat against the Seed demo.

-->'''Spanky:''' We can't spend our lives hiding from a giant vagina! ''*pauses and looks thoughtful*'' Nah, it's no way to live.
* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': In one episode, Jon said he'd no longer feed ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} unless Garfield got along with Nermal. As Jon started to repeat his ultimatum, Garfield interrupted him to tell he was thinking over it.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' - The Green Goblin hacks the Vault's security while Spidey's testing it, trapping him inside with an army of crooks after him and the supporting cast helplessly watching through the security cams. Then Mysterio sicks his non-sequitur-spouting gargoyles on Spidey.
-->'''J Jonah Jameson:''' I love these guys! Someone should give 'em their own show!
-->'''Captain Stacy:''' Jonah, you can't seriously be rooting against Spider-Man. He's our only hope of regaining control of the prison! ''(beat)'' Well?!
-->'''JJJ:''' I'm thinking, I'm thinking!
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' - When Jimmy and his friends are trying to outrun a group of Alien Pirates, they drift into the gravitational pull of the Planet Jupiter, and the only way to save themselves is by sacrificing the rubies they went to space for in the first place. The only downside is, [[GoldFever all of Jimmy's friends don't want to]]...
-->'''Jimmy''': It's your rubies or your life.
-->''(Cindy doesn't answer)''
-->'''Jimmy''': CINDY!!
-->'''Cindy''': What!? I'm thinking!

* Scrooge [=McDuck=], to no one's surprise, reacts this way in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'' when the genie, while they're hiding form the murderous villain, tries to get Scrooge to wish them to safety:
-->'''Genie:''' Quick! You gotta wish us out of here!
-->'''Scrooge:''' Not me! These wishes are worth a fortune!
-->'''Genie:''' What's more important -- a fortune, or ''your life?''
-->''pause''
-->'''Scrooge:''' Well...
-->'''Genie:''' HEY! It's not ''exactly'' a trick question!

''(Batman actually grins and seems to be considering it.)''\\

''(Batman finally pulls him to safety.)''

-->'''Starscream:''' D'uggghh. Why do I feel another "Shockwave plan" coming on? (Shockwave grabs him by the arm and pulls him face-to-face) Ack!!
-->'''Shockwave:''' Do not think for a moment, Starscream, that it has gone unnoticed that you left me at the mercy of the Autobots!
-->'''Starscream:''' (turning to Megatron) Master! Are you going to allow one lieutenant to harm another?!
-->''(Megatron remains silent.)''
-->'''Starscream:''' Master?!!
-->'''Megatron:''' I'm thinking...

[[folder:RealLife]]
* Creator/StephenKing mentions in ''On Writing'' that when his friends and family [[StagingAnIntervention staged an intervention]] for him and demanded that he stop his drinking, he asked for time to think about it. It was only in hindsight that he realised just how bizarre it was to have to ''think about'' not drinking himself into an early grave.

* In ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'', {{Satan}} gives Tycho a choice- be tormented for all eternity or play the Seed demo. Tycho says "Do I have to answer right now?", which isn't as much a case of him having SkewedPriorites as a TakeThat against the Seed demo.

** Another episode has Willow offer to kill Amy so Spike can feed off her. Buffy seems tempted and needs a moment before rejecting the idea.

This situation is always spawned by SkewedPriorities, and often implies or results in the character being TooDumbToLive. But more often than not it is a CrowningMomentOfFunny. WouldRatherSuffer is the related trope where the character actually ''does'' choose the "wrong" option, or at least says they would if given the chance. Often combined with DeathByMaterialism.

* Here's a good one from ''Film/GroundhogDay'':

* In the ''ThreesCompany'' episode "Baby, It's Cold Inside," Jack and Mr. Furley are trapped in the walk-in freezer at Angelino's. They have this exchange:

* In ''[[Machinima/RedVsBlueTheRecollection Red Vs. Blue: Reconstruction]]'', [[ProfessionalButtKisser Simmons]] and [[LazyBum Grif]] are negotiating with the leader of a firing squad that wants to execute them for selling ammo to the Blue team, and Simmons tries to delay the firing squad by telling its leader that the rules say that the leader has to read them their charges.
-->'''Simmons:''' "Shouldn't you at least read us our charges?"
-->'''Soldier:''' "You know what you did. You were in charge of our ammunition, and you lost it all!"
-->'''Grif:''' "Don't you think it's ironic that you're about to shoot us because we don't have enough ammo? Also, 'lost' and 'sold to the other team'? Two totally different things."
-->'''Soldier:''' "Oh, you're just delaying."
-->'''Simmons:''' "Yes, that's true, but it's also true that you have to read us a list of charges. It's in the Red Army Handbook, section on firing squads, subsection 2.9C, page 94, third paragraph."
-->'''Grif:''' "You are going to die a nerd. So sad."
-->'''Simmons:''' "Do you want to die in the next two seconds, [[MortonsFork or do you want to die a nerd with me five minutes from now?]]"
-->'''Grif:''' ''{{Beat}}''
-->'''Simmons:''' "Well!?"
-->'''Grif:''' "I'm ''thinking''!

This situation is always spawned by SkewedPriorities, and often implies or results in the character being TooDumbToLive. But more often than not it is a CrowningMomentOfFunny. WouldRatherSuffer is the related trope where the character actually ''does'' choose the "wrong" option, or at least says they would if given the chance.

* TomTerrific takes time to think out what to do in certain situations (or what to change into). Mighty Manfred lampshades it: