An Admiral was visiting on the deck of a U.S. Navy ship; he was chatting with some enlisted men. "What would you do if another sailor fell overboard?" A sailor promptly replied: "I would raise the alarm and toss him a life preserver, sir." The Admiral asked a second question: "What would you do if it were an officer?" The enlisted man thought a minute, then asked, "Which officer, sir?"
We choose the ones we save; we choose the ones we'll love -- which ones we deem worthy to get our life preservers.
Source: Anywhere Goes, HomileticsOnline.com, 9/15/1996