# Tell us about something you've done once - and only once - and will never do again. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 3, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207 "2018-07-03T01:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/61 "2018-07-03T19:19:15Z")
Cranial surgery. Granted it was to take out a glio blastoma tumor but I seriously think about forgoing it again even if my life was on it. The SUrgery’s fine, it’s the miserable head leaking, rotten food, lousy nursing care for ten plus days. I’s seriously think about “NO”. Oh, and add in a Foley catheter.Ecch. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/62 "2018-07-03T19:27:35Z")
Parasailing in Cabo San Lucas. Terrifying and dangerous. Agreeing to drive with a more advanced group at an HPDE because there weren’t enough drivers at my level to make our own group. If hair could physically stand up inside a racing helmet, mine would have. Waaay too fast and too much passing (of me by others). Now I know to ask about what groups will be formed. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/63 "2018-07-03T19:36:46Z")
Take a redeye flight to Europe. We took a nonstop from San Francisco to Paris. I forget how long it took - ten, twelve hours? I thought we’d be able to sleep on the flight. I was mistaken. And the fact that I accidentally booked non-reclining seats right in front of an exit didn’t help matters. We arrived at about three in the afternoon local time, exhausted to the point of being sick. We still had to rent a car and drive a couple of hours over unfamiliar A-routes. Even though we had been told to just gut it out and stay up until a normal local hour, there was no way we could do that. We instantly crashed in the hotel room and slept about fifteen hours. I felt sick for two days, but it was just the combination of exhaustion and jet lag. Never again. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/64 "2018-07-03T19:39:06Z")
Post in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/65 "2018-07-03T20:00:51Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I’m with \*\*burpo \*\*- Tried white water rafting once. Almost died and watched my friends almost die. I don’t see it as a pleasant experience for me. Won’t try again. > > \*\*Ambivalid \*\*- how are you doing now? I’m so sorry you had such a rough time. Sounds dreadful ☹ Actually much better. I actually love my new doctor. She is young, up to date on the latest science of spinal cord injury, is less than a third of the distance from me as my former doctor AND, as a nice bonus, does Botox therapy for migraines. I got my first treatment last week. Its too soon to tell the ultimate effects of it but ive been mostly headache free since. The one weird thing is the center of my forehead is paralyzed. So if i try to raise my eyebrows in a surprised look, only the outer edges of my eyebrows will lift, and i end up looking like im giving a “one cocked eyebrow” look, only its both eyebrows. Its funny and weird. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/66 "2018-07-03T21:04:14Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > In what kind of hospital are you going to be making candy? In case this is a serious question: > [@](#): > > [candy striper](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/candy-striper) n. young female volunteer nurse at a hospital, by 1962, so called from the pink-striped design of her uniform, similar to patterns on peppermint candy. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/67 "2018-07-03T21:19:44Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Take a redeye flight to Europe. > > We took a nonstop from San Francisco to Paris. I forget how long it took - ten, twelve hours? I thought we’d be able to sleep on the flight. I was mistaken. And the fact that I accidentally booked non-reclining seats right in front of an exit didn’t help matters. > > We arrived at about three in the afternoon local time, exhausted to the point of being sick. We still had to rent a car and drive a couple of hours over unfamiliar A-routes. Even though we had been told to just gut it out and stay up until a normal local hour, there was no way we could do that. We instantly crashed in the hotel room and slept about fifteen hours. > > I felt sick for two days, but it was just the combination of exhaustion and jet lag. > > Never again. In 1980 (Actually midnight flight New Years’ Eve, so 1981) we flew to Brussels on the Belgian airline called SABENA. Everyone said that the name was an acronym for Such A Bad Experience Never Again. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/68 "2018-07-03T21:53:12Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I have friends who regularly do Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim… Is one of your friends **kayaker**? > [@kayaker](#): > > A threesome… mmm ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/69 "2018-07-03T22:25:14Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Is one of your friends **kayaker**? > > mmm Oh no you di’int. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/70 "2018-07-03T22:34:22Z")
> [@betterlifethroughchemistry](#): > > My father was an USAF pilot for 4 years, and flew for the MD ANG for 27 years…the last 18 of those, he flew C-130’s and routinely dropped troops, including the Golden Knights…once I asked him if he would consider sky diving, he said, “There’s no reason for leaving a perfectly good airplane”, that sounded reasonable to me, and have no desire to leave a perfectly good airplane…when he retired, he said his greatest accomplishment as a pilot was he had an equal number of take-offs and landings… I’ll never forget sitting at the doorway of the plane and looking down at the little postage stamp appearing fields and the instructor putting his hand on my back and saying “GO!” My conscious probably decided, “I can’t believe you’re really gonna do that. I’m outta here!” and “I” fainted. The instructors had said that 9 out of 10 women and 7 out of 10 men faint the first time. Thank goodness for the static line attached to the plane, because I wasn’t awake to pull the cord myself. I wasn’t that scared in advance, until they told us all of things that could go wrong. I remember all the joking ceased and everyone got really quiet in the plane. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/71 "2018-07-03T23:30:12Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > Childbirth. I’ll second that. 27 hours of labor, capped off by an emergency c-section. Also, watch the movie _Penny Serenade_. Great movie, but so fucking sad. Drink absinthe. Disgusting. Like ouzo, which I also hate, plus something rotting. Visit Paris. I would visit almost any place again that I have been before (I’m lukewarm on Warsaw, and not crazy about Texas, but I have family there), but Paris was a \*\*huge \*\*disappointment. It was dirty, and nothing was as good as you expected it to be. Even the Mona Lisa was a let-down. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/72 "2018-07-03T23:43:09Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Volunteer at a hospital. > > When I was in high school, I read a book about candy striping, and thought it would be a cool thing to do. I went with a friend to the orientation. That was it for me. Just being in the hospital made me too uncomfortable. I knew right then that not only would I never be a candy striper, I would never work in a hospital in any capacity. > > I have done other types of volunteer work since, but never in a hospital or medical setting. I was a candy-striper and loved it. I did it the summer between my sophomore and junior years in high school (you had to be 16), and I liked it so much, I did two shifts a week instead of the typical one, and then I kept doing it through the school year. Every Sunday afternoon after synagogue youth group. Got home just in time to watch _Matinee at the Bijou_ on PBS. I loved it so much, I actually considered being a nurse, which was something I had never considered before, but my mother was against it, so nothing came of it, but if I had put in 100 hours (which I came close to doing), I would have been eligible for a scholarship. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/73 "2018-07-04T00:46:39Z")
Shooting a pheasant with a shotgun. There is more to it than that. I had never successfully fired at one before. I was walking through the field hunting with my dad, who always got off the first shot. Suddenly he said “You got him”. I did not remember anything, I didn’t know I had even fired. My gun ejected a shall casing. Dad, who was amazed that I beat him to the draw, said you just winged him, shoot it again before it runs away, but by then the Springer got it. I put a loaded gun up to my shoulder and killed a living thing, with absolutely no conscious awareness of what I was doing, and no recollection of it a moment later. The thing I will never do again is touch a loaded gun. ---
**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:** [July 4, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/74 "2018-07-04T05:55:16Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > Sky diving. I did it once on my 30th birthday, and that sufficed. (I fainted when I melted and slid out the door of the plane and didn’t wake up until the parachute opened. I got a poor grade for failing to make an AGGRESSIVE EXIT.) Had there been any problems, I would no longer be alive to make this post. Then I landed flat on my back (they told us not to look at the ground but at the horizon so we wouldn’t lock our knees) and got drug for several hundred feet through the desert brush. It took awhile for me to remember what to do if that happened. I had another jump coming for the fees I paid, but I declined. > > I no longer feel the urge to ride the scariest roller coaster I can find. Aren’t you required to tandem for your first 20 jumps or so? I didn’t know they allowed people to go solo on a first jump. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/75 "2018-07-04T06:31:36Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Aren’t you required to tandem for your first 20 jumps or so? I didn’t know they allowed people to go solo on a first jump. For static line jumps, there is no requirement. There’s only like 10 secs of free fall before your chute opens automatically (I managed to count to 8 before I started swearing). ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/76 "2018-07-04T07:11:34Z")
Go to a nightclub. Crap music, drunk people, can’t hold a conversation. This was when I was 18 with my future wife-to-be and I was bored out of my skull. I would rather have been anywhere else. Never been to one again. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/77 "2018-07-04T07:22:17Z")
Took a job in Texas. Never again. George W. Bush is smarter, wiser, and more compassionate than most of the folks in that lunatic asylum of a state. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/78 "2018-07-04T07:41:11Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Visit Paris. I would visit almost any place again that I have been before … but Paris was a \*\*huge \*\*disappointment. It was dirty, and nothing was as good as you expected it to be… I’m the same way. The Paris of the tourist brochures and the Paris of reality seem to be two different Parises. I have no interest in returning to Paris. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/79 "2018-07-04T08:01:38Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Shooting a pheasant with a shotgun. There is more to it than that. > > I had never successfully fired at one before. I was walking through the field hunting with my dad, who always got off the first shot. Suddenly he said “You got him”. I did not remember anything, I didn’t know I had even fired. My gun ejected a shall casing. Dad, who was amazed that I beat him to the draw, said you just winged him, shoot it again before it runs away, but by then the Springer got it. > > I put a loaded gun up to my shoulder and killed a living thing, with absolutely no conscious awareness of what I was doing, and no recollection of it a moment later. > > The thing I will never do again is touch a loaded gun. I hope not! Aren’t you fucking blind? 😨 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207/80 "2018-07-04T16:57:24Z")
I learned a long time ago to never say ‘never.’ Got a few things I would rather not do again but circumstances can … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-us-about-something-youve-done-once-and-only-once-and-will-never-do-again/817207.md?page=5)