# What's the worst mistake you ever made? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2002, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252 "2002-12-03T18:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/122 "2013-11-20T23:44:30Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > Leaving behind my brand new Tri-Star vaccuum cleaner when I moved out of a boyfriend’s house. I found him a few months later and asked for it back but he said he “didn’t have it anymore” - an over thousand dollar appliance and he loses it? Yeah right. > > I miss that vaccuum cleaner. I am not meaning to patronize you but, really, if you believe that the worst mistake you ever made was leaving behind a vacuum cleaner, it would be a much bigger mistake to think you’ve not done well. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/123 "2013-11-21T05:03:00Z")
I do have something. When I was at my old job, I glossed over (okay, let’s face it, lied) about a situation that under ideal circumstances should have destroyed the careers of the people who were doing it, but I did what I did because I knew that the situation would be turned around and made out to be my fault, because one of the perpetrators was Our Department’s Little Golden Boy Who Could Do No Wrong. Srsly, this guy was totally exempt from disciplinary action, and everyone who worked there knew about it. We’re talking about a situation that may have led to deaths. And no, when the truth was revealed, they didn’t get in any kind of trouble for it, either. Nor did I, but I did explain why I made the decision I did. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/124 "2013-11-21T13:50:34Z")
Marrying my second ex. Hands down, the biggest screwup of my life, bar none. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/125 "2013-11-21T13:56:51Z")
my worst mistake is not learning from all my previous mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/126 "2013-11-21T14:24:24Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > I am not meaning to patronize you but, really, if you believe that the worst mistake you ever made was leaving behind a vacuum cleaner, it would be a much bigger mistake to think you’ve not done well. Oh believe me, I’ve made far worse and far bigger mistakes, but I prefer to think of them as “learning experiences.” I just wanted to bring something less depressing to the thread. I couldn’t begin to list all the screw-ups in my life between age 17 and 30, when I finally got all my shit together. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/127 "2013-11-21T15:44:21Z")
> [@Scarlet](#): > > OTOH if it hadn’t been for that BF, I never would have met DH… go figure. You married a designated hitter? Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/128 "2013-11-21T15:59:00Z")
Reading through this cranky old zombie and thinking about my own mistakes, I have one thought. Those really old people who say they have no regrets? They’re either lying, have no memory of their lives, or are complete sociopaths. Maybe there’s something to be said for Alzheimers… ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/129 "2013-11-21T17:47:54Z")
Being born in America… the mistake of my parents I guess. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Earth001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a6a055/32.png) [@Earth001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earth001)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/130 "2013-11-21T17:52:05Z")
I smashed my finger in a car door. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/131 "2013-11-21T18:00:30Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I couldn’t begin to list all the screw-ups in my life between age 17 and 30, when I finally got all my shit together. That really _was_ a good vacuum cleaner. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/132 "2013-11-21T19:01:49Z")
On a broad life-altering level, I should have gotten therapy so I could have finished college. But if I’d done that, I wouldn’t have met my current boyfriend and I would be an entirely different person. I kinda like my boyfriend and the person I am now, so I can’t say it’s my biggest mistake. Honestly, I have more regrets about the first (and last) time I got blackout drunk. I woke up at 6am with puke on my sleeve and had no idea what happened the night before. Didn’t even know whether it was my puke. I was among friendly members of a club I was in, so nothing bad likely happened. But I was so paranoid that I embarrassed myself that I never talked to any of them (or went back to a meeting) ever again. On the plus side, I scaled my drinking waaaay back after that. Now I drink a couple times a month at the most. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2013, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/133 "2013-11-21T19:08:58Z")
Not joining the Air Force after my stint in the Marine Corps. The Air Force told me I couldn’t pick my exact occupation (had to give them several choices, out of which they decided), and for a year I’d be on a 1-week notice to go to whatever not-boot-camp they give to prior service. I thought that sucked, so I said never mind. Now I kick myself because surely, I could have come up with 5 things I would have been willing to do, that would have actually given me some skills and experience for when I decided to leave. And, I could have retired in two or three years. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252/134 "2013-11-21T20:37:18Z")
Ahhh where do I begin? Like others have said, I made a lot of conscious and just plain stupidly unconscious mistakes when I was younger. Ok, up until the last 7 years really. Finally I learned to just get over myself and take accountability/do the hard thing even if it was inconvenient for me. Mainly this was a result of being married to a wonderful man who stuck by me. Good thing I woke up and didnt lose him too. But I mostly regret not appreciating my parents while they were alive and not spending more time with them telling them I love them. Man it feels good to get that off my chest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-mistake-you-ever-made/140252.md?page=6)