# What time in your life would you like to turn in for a refund? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 31, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479 "2012-10-31T20:25:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/1 "2012-10-31T20:25:10Z")
You know how people sometimes say after watching a bad movie, “There were two hours of my life I’d like to get back”? Well, suppose you could do just that. You can pick one period/event/time in your life and have the time back to respend. The rules: 1. It has to be a period you spent doing something you voluntarily chose to do. Your year living in England, taking Underwater Basketweaving, or touring the country following Phish count; your six-month illness when you were laid up in your room doesn’t. Military service counts only if you chose it, not if you were drafted. 2. Any experiences you had, friends you met, etc., related to that period/time/event (including things that were tangentially related, like you met your spouse in the parking lot of the alley during your year as a member of a horrible bowling team) would be erased as well. You would still get to keep the experiences and memories from the time period that _aren’t_ directly or indirectly related to your chosen event. 3. It must be a decent sized chunk of time: “I want the two hours I spent watching ‘That’s My Boy’ back” doesn’t count (though “I want the years I wasted watching all X seasons of ‘Lost’” would) Here’s an example: I’ve spent a _lot_ of time over the past few years playing World of Warcraft. Days, weeks, months spent leveling characters, raiding, etc. Though I would be tempted to ask for all that time back, I wouldn’t. Why? Because I met some really good friends playing the game, and since I’m an introvert who doesn’t have a huge number of friends, I wouldn’t want to lose some of them. On the other hand, I’d gladly give back the month or two I spent playing RIFT, as the game made essentially no impact on my life other than wasting many hours realizing that it wasn’t the game for me. What would you pick? Would you pick anything? What part of your life would you return for a refund? ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/2 "2012-10-31T22:07:21Z")
Early morning Sept 8th 1938 through the present. The whole damned thing has been much, much more negative than positive. I would prefer to have had not part of it. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/3 "2012-10-31T22:38:25Z")
My 4.5 years in college. I’d use it to go back to college. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/4 "2012-10-31T22:54:33Z")
Age 22-26. What was I thinking hanging around that dead end town? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/5 "2012-10-31T23:01:12Z")
To quote Meat Loaf: “Life is a lemon and I want my money back.” I’d like to get a refund for the last 50 years. Oh, to be able to start all over again at five. Eh, doesn’t count, though. I know the OP said _voluntary._ ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/6 "2012-10-31T23:32:22Z")
So, did I spend the last 43 years living the last 43 years _voluntarily_ or _involuntarily?_ And did I learn anything, such that if I got my refund an a do-over, I would know what to do differently? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/7 "2012-10-31T23:40:31Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > So, did I spend the last 43 years living the last 43 years _voluntarily_ or _involuntarily?_ > > And did I learn anything, such that if I got my refund an a do-over, I would know what to do differently? Yes. If you get your refund, you remember what you did and can choose not to do it again (or relive it, I suppose!) Actually, that kinda contradicts my OP, but I’ll say that you’ll remember enough that you can choose not to do it again. You just won’t remember anything _good_ that came out of it (friends, happy times, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/8 "2012-11-01T04:37:46Z")
The last 3 years of college were an extraordinary waste of time. It was a meaningless time consuming grind in which I learned little and wasted precious youth that I could have been working and learning and actually enjoying life. The first two years I learned a lot and matured. After 1-2 years of college, people should go out and work a variety of internships to attain genuine skills for the workforce. Peter Thiel should be a hero. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/9 "2012-11-01T06:31:32Z")
Well damn. Until I read the rules I was going to say “from birth until at leas t the age of 14” but under the new rules, I will have to stick to taking back all the time I spent trying to prepare for a PhD and earn scholarships in high school, seeing as I never did go to university and haven’t wanted to for at least a couple of years. I’d use it to do more about my appalling mental health at a younger age. Maybe I’d be in a much better place now if I’d admitted I needed treatment more than schooling then. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/10 "2012-11-01T11:36:02Z")
I’d like the last four years of my failed marriage back. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/11 "2012-11-01T11:37:53Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > My 4.5 years in college. I’d use it to go back to college. Me too. I’d use it to actually learn useful stuff. Boy was that college bad. ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-in-your-life-would-you-like-to-turn-in-for-a-refund/639479/12 "2012-11-01T11:58:04Z")
18-25. I was drunk or hungover the entire time, I’m still not sure how I survived that period. Since I’m not an alcoholic (this drunk was by choice) I figure it counts.