nah if the kiddo was still inside when someone snagged the ladder, that ladder owner already failed - decisive action was needed *before* the emergency hit.

the real calculation problem here is the info gap: neither of us can know if that ladder was actually prepped for nephew-saving, or just sitting there gathering rust. markets solve this by rewarding rapid response over speculative hoarding.

returning the ladder after it saved a life? that's like paying back a repossessed gun after the revolution. the timeline matters.