# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/81 "2011-11-07T10:45:11Z")
The opposite of Groundhog Day would be everybody experiencing the same day over and over but Phil, who keeps hearing people talking about this cursed daily reiteration while he’s pretty sure it’s just another regular day. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2011, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/82 "2011-11-07T12:07:35Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > What is the difference between this > > and this > > ? The difference is that in one he’s using the newspaper to start and in the other to end. So it doesn’t seem like the newspaper is really doing anything at all. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/83 "2011-11-07T23:55:36Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > The difference is that in one he’s using the newspaper to start and in the other to end. So it doesn’t seem like the newspaper is really doing anything at all. It’s not the newspaper that is doing anything; rather, it is the act of reading the newspaper. Just as the act of eating a Twinkie affected what **Frazzled** saw when he was in college. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/84 "2011-11-07T23:58:05Z")
So we’ve moved on from Groundhog Day into Butterfly Effect? ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/85 "2011-11-08T01:13:39Z")
I really thought this was bizarre on page 1; now at page 2, it’s reached such levels of bafflitude that it’s spun off little daughter currents of befuddlement. I still don’t know what this has to do with Groundhog Day, but I’d say that there’s nothing mentally wrong with the guy who has to do all these things every day. Stubborn, maybe, but not necessarily sick. There’s nothing odd about drinking coffee or reading the newspaper every day. Unless you are saying that the main character here is compelled to do these things, regardless of whether he wants to or not? In that sense I sort of see the Groundhog Day connection, but I’m not sure what you are asking then. The thread title seems to be asking me if I could be experiencing this, to which the answer is: sure. I brush my teeth every morning and night. I’m pretty sure I pee at least once every day. All the while many other things are going on around me. Does that count? ---
**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:** [November 8, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/86 "2011-11-08T01:19:51Z")
Y’know, bathrooms have doors for a reason. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/87 "2011-11-08T01:21:47Z")
Ah, but then how could I nonchalantly think to myself, “I certainly am peeing,” while wars and famine and plagues are occurring around me? ---
**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:** [November 8, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/88 "2011-11-08T01:24:58Z")
Nevertheless, I think we can agree that Kozmik should take his thread premise out behind the barn and beat with with a shovel until it takes on a form that resembles something the rest of us can understand. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/89 "2011-11-08T17:25:38Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > What is the difference between this > > and this > > ? Well, in the first example, the speaker is getting ready to go out and do stuff (i.e., commence his day), and in the second, he’s done doing stuff and is apparently getting ready to go to bed (i.e., terminate his day). _American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition_ Commence: 1. To begin; start. 2. To enter upon or have a beginning; start. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/90 "2011-11-08T17:34:13Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Oh. Well in that case, we have an opposite to Groundhog Day. > > It’s called autism. So the opposite of _Groundhog Day_ is _Rain Man_? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038/91 "2011-11-08T18:45:40Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > I still don’t know what this has to do with Groundhog Day, but I’d say that there’s nothing mentally wrong with the guy who has to do all these things every day. Stubborn, maybe, but not necessarily sick. There’s nothing odd about drinking coffee or reading the newspaper every day. No, not unless the guy gets powerful anxiety attacks if he fears he will miss his routine. I’m still a little confused on what the opposite of the movie’s day would mean for our Phil-2, though… sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-experience-the-opposite-of-groundhogs-day/601038.md?page=4)