# A pivotal life decision you made in reaction to a news story **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 27, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989 "2022-06-27T19:41:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/1 "2022-06-27T19:41:56Z")
Tell us about a pivotal life decision you made in reaction to a news story! ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/2 "2022-06-28T01:01:29Z")
My choice of law school was strongly influenced by a column by Alan Fotheringham in Macleans magazine, plus some Input from my local bishop. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/3 "2022-06-28T01:07:17Z")
There qas this thing that happened in autumn 2001 that made me decide aagainst joining the military after high school. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/4 "2022-06-28T02:03:14Z")
Anything about health scares the h\*\*\* out of me. Now that I have Type II Diabetes, those news reports are poignant. (They all agree it’s reversible, or at least manageable, though. This leads me to believe that I still salvage the situation, hopefully.) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/5 "2022-06-28T02:50:29Z")
Not my decision (I was only a teenager) but my dad’s: He decided to move the family from Montreal to Los Angeles as a result of the separatists winning power in Quebec, and their subsequent legislation. It was an incredibly influential decision on the course of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/6 "2022-06-28T07:04:19Z")
When I went to college in the mid 00s I was going for a computer science degree, when I read a news article saying that computer science was actually on the outs with lowering and lowering average salaries due to outsourcing to foreign countries (this was right around the time this was happening full force) and I picked that career specifically because when i went to high school in the late 90s that was still being routinely touted as “The next big thing”. So I finished with an associate’s degree in computer science and tried to transition to a degree in Political Science, never actually finished it, dropped out, and have now being working for the past 15 years a blue collar job for the USPS I enjoy immensely, especially since my college was all paid for so I don’t have any student debt. I still wonder what my life would have been like if I actually got that 4 year degree and went into IT or Computer Security like I actually planned. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/7 "2022-06-28T07:41:40Z")
Without going into much detail, reading a news report about someone who had been caught in a life of crime made me rethink some of my ways. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/8 "2022-06-28T15:22:54Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > Tell us about a pivotal life decision you made in reaction to a news story! Not sure if this counts as a _news_ story: > **[Getting ready to say the hardest of life's goodbyes](https://www.theage.com.au/national/getting-ready-to-say-the-hardest-of-lifes-goodbyes-20070310-ge4e5i.html)** The author’s example of her own sister prompted me to write letters of gratitude to my own parents for all they’d done for me over my life. That was several years ago; my parents are both gone now, and I’m glad I took the opportunity to send them those letters. It meant so much to me that I actually emailed the author of the article to thank her for putting that out there. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/9 "2022-06-28T15:31:20Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > reading a news report about someone who had been caught in a life of crime made me rethink some of my ways To make sure you don’t get caught… ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/10 "2022-06-28T15:47:14Z")
I don’t know how pivotal it is because I have never wanted kids and do the work to make sure I don’t have them, but in light of recent news I will be talking more seriously to my doctor about a tubal ligation. Whether or not I have one (because it’s an elective surgery and I’m not the healthiest person around) still remains to be seen. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/11 "2022-06-29T17:09:34Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I still wonder what my life would have been like if I actually got that 4 year degree and went into IT or Computer Security like I actually planned. Computer security is a very in-demand job (my husband is a security specialist, and I’ve taken some training in the area). A lot of IT work is, indeed, still outsourced, but there’s still a domestic demand - especially if you are working on government contracts. A lot of ours require US citizens only. On the other hand, if you enjoy your job, and are paid well enough to live your life mostly as you please, it sounds like a much less stressful job. My husband and I are both expected to work long hours, without overtime. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/12 "2022-06-29T19:37:48Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Not my decision (I was only a teenager) but my dad’s: He decided to move the family from Montreal to Los Angeles as a result of the separatists winning power in Quebec, and their subsequent legislation. I wonder why he didn’t simply move you all to Toronto. Montreal =\> L.A.= culture shock! ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/13 "2022-06-29T21:45:55Z")
We were US Citizens with permanent residency in Canada. So we could have moved anywhere in the US or Canada. My dad decided that, since we had to move away from Quebec anyway, we may as well move to someplace without harsh winters. My mom had an uncle in LA. We went to visit them, and my parents liked it. I had a lot of friends at school in Montreal who did end up moving to Toronto. Yes, the culture shock was immense. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2022, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-pivotal-life-decision-you-made-in-reaction-to-a-news-story/966989/14 "2022-06-30T01:21:44Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Yes, the culture shock was immense. I’m sure it was, but I was thinking more about this. I think it must have been almost as much of a culture shock for the thousands who moved from the American Midwest and Northeast in the postwar decades.