# Could you experience the opposite of Groundhog's Day? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 28, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038 "2011-10-28T04:00:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/21 "2011-10-30T17:00:35Z")
Is it sort of like a “timeout” button? Like when you have to be at work at 8am, but you are miserably hungover when you wake at 7:26am? You can pause time, vomit a few times, sleep for a few more hours, get up, have a full meal, drink coffee, read the paper and then…Time In! It’s 7:27? ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/22 "2011-10-30T18:03:28Z")
_Groundhog Day_ is one of my all-time favorite movies, so any thread on it immediately grabs my attention. Before I even read the OP post I tried to figure out what “the opposite of _Groundhog Day_” would mean and can’t figure it out. After reading the OP I think the problem is that his scenario has nothing to do with any “opposites” of _GD_. That’s a bad description of what the OP intended. I think what is intended is that there is some triggering event that causes the day to reset to the start of GD and I assume, like in the movie, Phil retains the memories of his past GDs. Obviously, Phil would figure out what is that triggering event after a few iterations, and that he would then have control of when and where he resets his day if he wants to. IMO that would ruin the movie since a key plot element is that Phil had no control over his GD restarts which was what forced him to take advantage of those multiple GDs to become a better person. If the OP is asking if the scenario can happen in real life, who knows? AFAIK no one has figured out how to navigate the space-time continuum yet to relive a day. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/23 "2011-10-30T18:31:28Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > Before I even read the OP post I tried to figure out what “the opposite of _Groundhog Day_” would mean and can’t figure it out. Hogground Day. Duh. Eternity in a meat-packing plant. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/24 "2011-10-30T18:36:25Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I’d say the opposite of Groundhog’s Day would be like that movie with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, where she could live a day normally, but forget it happened by the next morning. But she was actually living the “same day” over and over again (due to the ministrations of her family and the community). So the opposite of Groundhog’s Day is… Groundhog’s Day? It’s its own opposite! Like cleave! ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/25 "2011-10-31T01:20:59Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Please finish reading the paper and drinking your coffee so we can get on with this day. That’s what the person says to themself before they had their coffee or before they had read the paper. > [@jtgain](#): > > Is it sort of like a “timeout” button? Like when you have to be at work at 8am, but you are miserably hungover when you wake at 7:26am? You can pause time, vomit a few times, sleep for a few more hours, get up, have a full meal, drink coffee, read the paper and then…Time In! It’s 7:27? Sort of. Like when you have to be at work at 8 am… you just know its going to be a bad day. You ask youself: Do I drink my coffee before work, during the coffee break, during lunch, or do I drink my coffee after work? You might conclude, for example: If I drink my coffee after work that will “negate” the bad day. Or if I drink my coffee before work, I will be prepared for whatever happens. > [@nivlac](#): > > IMO that would ruin the movie since a key plot element is that Phil had no control over his GD restarts which was what forced him to take advantage of those multiple GDs to become a better person. That’s the point: To become a better person. Yes, in GD, Phil has no control over his GD restarts. In the opposite of GD, Phil would have control over his restarts. He would be able to restart the day when he finished reading his newspaper or when he finished drinking his coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/26 "2011-10-31T01:29:45Z")
Since I don’t have any idea what the OP is on about, I’m wondering why the dude in Groundhog Day didn’t try to bring about the apocalypse. I think I’d try over and over to see how far I could get into the nation’s arsenal, trying day after day after year after century until I’d figured out the exact pattern of behavior that would let me press the red button before midnight. Then, if the day ever ended and I got to go back to the real world, I’d be like a superspy. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/27 "2011-10-31T01:30:44Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Is it sort of like a “timeout” button? Like when you have to be at work at 8am, but you are miserably hungover when you wake at 7:26am? You can pause time, vomit a few times, sleep for a few more hours, get up, have a full meal, drink coffee, read the paper and then…Time In! It’s 7:27? Wouldn’t that be like the Adam Sandler movie Click? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/28 "2011-10-31T03:34:32Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Since I don’t have any idea what the OP is on about, I’m wondering why the dude in Groundhog Day didn’t try to bring about the apocalypse. I think I’d try over and over to see how far I could get into the nation’s arsenal, trying day after day after year after century until I’d figured out the exact pattern of behavior that would let me press the red button before midnight. Then, if the day ever ended and I got to go back to the real world, I’d be like a superspy. IIRC the Bill Murray character couldn’t leave Punxsutawney, PA because the roads hadn’t been cleared from the blizzard the night before. I suppose he may also have been supernaturally prevented from leaving the town in the same way that he was prevented from moving on to the next day. In any event, he was stuck there and wouldn’t have been able to get near any WMDs, etc. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/29 "2011-10-31T04:39:23Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > That’s the point: To become a better person. Yes, in GD, Phil has no control over his GD restarts. In the opposite of GD, Phil would have control over his restarts. He would be able to restart the day when he finished reading his newspaper or when he finished drinking his coffee. That’s still not the “opposite” of GD. Check the dictionary for the definition of “opposite”. Maybe you meant a “variation” on an aspect of GD. Regardless, my point is that if Phil had control over when he restarts the day, the movie wouldn’t work. Then your question about whether a person, in real life, can experience the phenomenon of restarting a day whenever he wants is kind of, shall we say, ridiculous? Have you known anyone who’s rolled back time like that? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/30 "2011-10-31T04:55:00Z")
I still have no idea what the OP is about, despite several posters’ valiant attempts. Thanks to other posters, though, I’m stuck under my desk in the fetal position, horrified at the prospect of a Groundhog-day like nightmare of watching a continual stream of Adam Sandler movies and being unable to do anything to break the loop. At least it’s not Rob Schneider. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/31 "2011-10-31T06:14:52Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Since I don’t have any idea what the OP is on about, I’m wondering why the dude in Groundhog Day didn’t try to bring about the apocalypse. I think I’d try over and over to see how far I could get into the nation’s arsenal, trying day after day after year after century until I’d figured out the exact pattern of behavior that would let me press the red button before midnight. Then, if the day ever ended and I got to go back to the real world, I’d be like a superspy. I can’t imagine why, if spectacular suicides were already proven not to work, anyone would imagine that a bigger boom (nuclear blasts) would do any better > [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I still have no idea what the OP is about, despite several posters’ valiant attempts. Thanks to other posters, though, I’m stuck under my desk in the fetal position, horrified at the prospect of a Groundhog-day like nightmare of watching a continual stream of Adam Sandler movies and being unable to do anything to break the loop. > At least it’s not Rob Schneider. But, if I had to spend every day watching Sandler and Schneider movies, destroying the whole universe would be worth it if it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/32 "2011-10-31T07:32:16Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > But, if I had to spend every day watching Sandler and Schneider movies, destroying the whole universe would be worth it if it worked. I’m not sure whether to quote T.S. Eliot or Dylan Thomas–both seem appropriate. Then again, I think Oppenheimer made the right choice. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/33 "2011-10-31T07:37:32Z")
We are indeed fortunate that Robert Oppenheimer was of sufficient genius to foresee Rob Schneider movies and begin to develop the technology to stop them. But our political leaders have lacked the moral courage to Push the Button. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/34 "2011-10-31T16:48:14Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > I think there’s a magic amount of ketamine that would render it immediately and intuitively apprehendable. I’m pretty sure it’s just a hair away from the magic amount of ketamine that stops an elephant’s heart cold, though. More like caffeine. > [@DrFidelius](#): > > I have the opposite of Groundhog Day in my real life. Every day brings something different for me to deal with, and it does not always wait until I have had my coffee. [Disclaimer - I do not get a morning newspaper. I used to, but they stopped delivering it before I needed to leave for work. I do not want to read my morning paper at dinnertime, so I cancelled my subscription. Their own damned fault.] > (I also do not understand the OP.) I don’t understand this post. I understand that you work; however, I do not understand your concept of “morning paper” and “dinnertime”. Do you mean daily paper? Do you mean you always have dinner after work? What if you get a call after work regarding an emergency? What if you didn’t work on a particular day? What if you had a heavy lunch? > [@nivlac](#): > > That’s still not the “opposite” of GD. Check the dictionary for the definition of “opposite”. Maybe you meant a “variation” on an aspect of GD. ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.’ > [@nivlac](#): > > Regardless, my point is that if Phil had control over when he restarts the day, the movie wouldn’t work. Then your question about whether a person, in real life, can experience the phenomenon of restarting a day whenever he wants is kind of, shall we say, ridiculous? Have you known anyone who’s rolled back time like that? Phil would have control over when he restarts _his_ day and a person, in real life, can experience the phenomenon of restarting their day whenever they want. **DrFidelius** explained that he use to get the daily paper but does not get it anymore because he doesn’t want to “read my morning paper at dinnertime.” :dubious: I do not understand why **DrFidelius** doesn’t want to read his daily paper at dinnertime or after dinner. He can’t read the paper in the morning or at work. That’s understandable. He stopped getting the daily paper because he doesn’t want to read the paper after work. Does that sound like a reason? When I said that a person, in real life, could experience the phenomenon of restarting the day, I didn’t mean someone literally rolling back time. I meant someone coming home from work or going to a cafe after work, reading their paper or drinking their coffee. Once they finished drinking their coffee or finished reading their paper, they have, in effect, re-started the day because they re-peat the same thing every single day. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/35 "2011-10-31T18:37:55Z")
I’ve read a lot of pretty incomprehensible threads over the past decade of reading this board, and this is up there with the best of them. There appears to be several axioms at work here: 1. An atom bomb will destroy the collective works of Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler. 2. It would be worth it. 3. Nobody has any idea what the OP means. Is that about right? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/36 "2011-10-31T18:48:28Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > I do not understand why **DrFidelius** doesn’t want to read his daily paper at dinnertime or after dinner. He can’t read the paper in the morning or at work. That’s understandable. He stopped getting the daily paper because he doesn’t want to read the paper after work. Does that sound like a reason? When I said that a person, in real life, could experience the phenomenon of restarting the day, I didn’t mean someone literally rolling back time. I meant someone coming home from work or going to a cafe after work, reading their paper or drinking their coffee. Once they finished drinking their coffee or finished reading their paper, they have, in effect, re-started the day because they re-peat the same thing every single day. So how is that restarting the day? Isn’t that just going home and drinking coffee? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/37 "2011-10-31T18:48:54Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > I’ve read a lot of pretty incomprehensible threads over the past decade of reading this board, and this is up there with the best of them. > There appears to be several axioms at work here: > > 1. An atom bomb will destroy the collective works of Rob Schneider and Adam Sandler. > 2. It would be worth it. > 3. Nobody has any idea what the OP means. > > Is that about right? Other than a lot of atom bombs, that’s a pretty good summary. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/38 "2011-10-31T18:51:18Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > So how is that restarting the day? Isn’t that just going home and drinking coffee? I agree. I am still totally mystified by what the OP is trying to say. Even with the words being in English, a language I understand pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/39 "2011-10-31T19:00:36Z")
I thought the opposite of GH day would be like “Where the hell did my week go?” year after year after year after year… ---
**Author:** ![With\_Rye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@With\_Rye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/With_Rye)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/40 "2011-10-31T21:08:25Z")
Is this like some sort of koan where the Zen master asks what the opposite of a tree is to blow the students’ minds? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038.md?page=3)