# If you could turn back time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773 "2009-04-20T20:43:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/1 "2009-04-20T20:43:51Z")
Imagine if a genie gives you the choice to change \*one \*decision that \*you \*made in your life which one would it be? It has to be just one event. Not a process. And the defination of an event is one action. So you can’t say (for instance) that you would not get together with a partner, getting together with someone is a process rather than an event. But lets say you first met your partner in a nightclub, and you had been unsure about going that night, then you can say you would not go to the club but stay home and watch the TV. It has to be voluntary, so (to use the partner example again) the event you can change must be one where the decision was yours; so if you were introduced to your evil partner at a cocktail party which you would have gone to anyway dose not count, as it was not your decision to be introduced. My own example? Many years ago, passing down a street I saw an advertisement for pottery lessons. On a whim I signed up. Spent the next 6 months being miserable twice a week. Spends the equivalent of hundreds of dollers and learnt…that I hate pottery. Not very profound I know. But hey give me time, I am still young.😃 ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/2 "2009-04-20T20:49:05Z")
:smack: Just remembered, I saw a collegue at a party making a valient attempt to drink the bar dry single handedly, and I thought for about a second to ask someone to drive him home, but dismissed it since i) hardly knew him and ii) being nosy. He drove home, into a tree; and spent the next 4 months in hospital and came out sans a leg. I do not feel guilty, it was his choice, but sometimes I do wish I had asked. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/3 "2009-04-20T20:49:25Z")
I would screw my courage to the sticking place and tell the one man I’ve ever truly loved that I loved him. It probably wouldn’t have changed anything, but at least I would KNOW that he knew how I felt. I haven’t passed up an opportunity to tell someone how much they mean to me since. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/4 "2009-04-20T22:07:53Z")
I’d have majored in math instead of English. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/5 "2009-04-20T22:25:13Z")
I would’ve told her “no, don’t go to Australia - stay here with me” instead of trying lame reverse phsycology ☹ ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/6 "2009-04-20T22:30:41Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > I would’ve told her “no, don’t go to Australia - stay here with me” instead of trying lame reverse phsycology ☹ ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/7 "2009-04-20T22:31:25Z")
I dunno if this counts but… I would leap into my body at SOME point my senior year of college and decided against graduating, instead taking on another major ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/8 "2009-04-20T22:32:52Z")
If I could find a way I’d take back those words that have hurt you and you’d stay. 😃 \*Originally posted by Cher ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/9 "2009-04-21T01:55:17Z")
I could have chosen another English class, at another time, and not met the guy who became my husband. Probably he thinks the same thing, he could have met and married another girl, one who actually wanted half a dozen kids. As it is, I find myself singing along whenever I hear Meatloaf singing about paradise by the dashboard light. ---
**Author:** ![EpicNonsense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c37758/32.png) [@EpicNonsense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EpicNonsense)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/10 "2009-04-21T02:04:16Z")
Edit: When I was about 5 or 6, I wish I had never picked up that pool cue for the first time, and just walked away from it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/11 "2009-04-21T02:07:51Z")
I would prevent myself from hooking up with a particular girl five weeks ago. Now there’s a chance that I have HIV. ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/12 "2009-04-21T02:28:51Z")
I would go back to 1998 and tell myself to actually go see some sights on my brief shore leaves in europe, rather than sitting in ports getting hammered. I also might tell myself to tough it out and stay in, since I could have been semi retired in 8 years… And I wouldn’t change this, but I would ask the genie to show me what I would be like now if I had told my parents “Nah, I really don’t want a nintendo.”. Idle curiosity. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/13 "2009-04-21T02:33:15Z")
> [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](#): > > I would prevent myself from hooking up with a particular girl five weeks ago. Now there’s a chance that I have HIV. I’m sorry to hear this. Have you been tested, and have you asked your doctor about post-exposure prophylaxis? In my case, I would have gone, smacked my 21-year-old self over the head, and warned him never to try to play amateur therapist. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/14 "2009-04-21T02:40:20Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I’m sorry to hear this. Have you been tested, and have you asked your doctor about post-exposure prophylaxis? > > In my case, I would have gone, smacked my 21-year-old self over the head, and warned him never to try to play amateur therapist. I got one test after a month. However, as far as I know, an HIV antibody test after a month is virtually worthless. I knew about post-exposure prophylaxis, but don’t you have to start that really soon after possible exposure? I hooked up with the girl five weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/15 "2009-04-21T02:55:22Z")
I had an operation in '03 that went really bad. I would either not have it, or perhaps have it at a different hospital. My choice changes daily. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/16 "2009-04-21T05:27:42Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > I’d have majored in math instead of English. Dammit, you stole my answer. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/17 "2009-04-21T06:45:11Z")
I would not have taken voluntary redundancy 2 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/18 "2009-04-21T07:03:36Z")
> [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](#): > > I would prevent myself from hooking up with a particular girl five weeks ago. Now there’s a chance that I have HIV. And when you come to (no pun intended) and realize that if you got HIV the way you described, you will be pretty much the first person ever to have gotten it that way confirmed, you will wish you never posted in this thread 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/19 "2009-04-21T07:41:07Z")
I would have gotten off my ass and filled out the financial aid paperwork for the University of Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773/20 "2009-04-21T07:55:06Z")
I would have stayed in architecture school. And I would have sued the hell out of the hospital and surgeon who botched my appendectomy. Man, this thread is depressing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-turn-back-time/493773.md?page=2)