Impact of a single moment.

Started by Nick November 30th, 2011 6:25 AM
  • 624 views
  • 4 replies

Nick

Seen 4 Weeks Ago
Posted July 28th, 2021
17,572 posts
18.6 Years
So, I'm sure we all can recognize the impact of a single moment and the chains of events that it brings. There's really no doubt about it that even the tiniest thing about something you do or say has an impact on future happenings. What this thread is about is just asking you to put on your detective hats and fake mustaches and examine something that you did or say and the chain of events that followed. It can be something personal or something not so personal. Something that happened offline (preferably) or on. As long as you're comfortable.

So! What's something that you did or said and what happened because of that? What happened because of the thing that happened after you did or said that thing? And so on and so forth. If there was anything you could have done or said differently, what would it be and how would you think it would have effected the chain of events that followed?

Esper

California
Seen June 30th, 2018
Posted June 30th, 2018
I'll try this.

A while back I was planning my trip to Japan and looking for the cheapest day to fly there. I ended up with a day that wasn't ideal, but it worked so I picked that day. Because of that my trip overlapped with that of another person going to Japan (for the same reason I was, a friend's wedding) and we actually were on the same plane together, although we didn't know this at the time. She was quite lost when she got there and I was able to help her out and because of that I sort of ended up being her guide for a few days while I was there. On one particular day I was helping her and some other people she knew get around, but there were some communications problems and they disappeared for most of a day (when it was only supposed to be a few hours). Because of that I had to wait for them (to make sure they hadn't died or anything) and didn't have time to figure out that the place I intended to do my last minute shopping was closed that day and so I didn't have time to go to another store (which was further away, plus I was more tired than I expected to be). In the end I did accomplish my shopping goals... but from America, and paying import prices. Because of that I ended up spending more money and had fewer options.

I could have flown on a different day and had a more independent trip. Probably I would have spent more money that way, bought more things, maybe spent more than would be good for me, but enjoyed it nonetheless. I would likely not have this lingering distaste for the people who got lost, but I also wouldn't have this amusing-in-hindsight anecdote to share and wouldn't be able to think of anything to write in this reply. I might even have decided to book my flight another day and lost any chance of getting a good flight and not gone at all and that would have completely changed a whole bunch of things, not the least of which is my wardrobe.

Mr Cat Dog

Frasier says it best

Age 32
Male
London, UK
Seen September 29th, 2017
Posted July 12th, 2017
11,344 posts
19.1 Years
I sorta flubbed a job interview a while back, and I've been wondering what my life would have been like had I got it. To make things interesting, a friend of mine from uni got the job I was applying for, so it's been interesting to watch our paths diverge more and more because of the outcome of one interview. I ended up getting a similar job with a different firm, and am currently training for it. My friend's position was made slightly untenable because of the economic downturn, and her firm is making her take a break before her training process begins. I've made new friends who I wouldn't have made by going to the other firm, but have obviously lost the potential to make new friends at the aforementioned firm. In many ways I'm happy with the path I'm on, but I do often think about what my life would have been if I'd, say, prepared more for that interview and got the job. Oh well...

Shining Raichu

Expect me like you expect Jesus.

Age 32
Male
Australia
Seen October 17th, 2020
Posted December 21st, 2017
8,958 posts
12.3 Years
I was miserable at university. I was studying business and I hated it because it was boring and soul-sucking and every day I was there I felt a piece of myself die. There was a moment one night, however, when I was sitting in an Economics lecture and just suddenly thought "What the Hell am I doing here? I hate what this place is turning me into and I'm never going to use this degree and have any chance at future happiness."

At that moment I packed up my stuff mid-lecture and walked out of the room, got in my car and drove home. That was in August 2009. It's now December 2011 and I would have just graduated if I'd stuck with it. Now, I know I wouldn't have been happy, but I often wonder how my life would have been different. Of course I would have more opportunities for a career (albeit one I'd hate) with a university degree, but I'd also have far less money from having less time and energy to work. I'm not sure what sort of person I would have been on the other end of my uni experience or what kind of life I would be leading, but I'm glad I left. Still, I wonder...

Of course, other potential if not significantly less likely eventuality is that if I'd stayed til the end of that lecture I might have gotten in my car and driven away, then on my way home run into a drunk driver that would not have been there an hour earlier when I did go home, causing me to die in a horrifying and messy blaze and rendering this whole exercise moot. But as I said, highly unlikely :)
Moderator of General Chat

Keiran

[b]Rock Solid[/b]

Age 31
New Jersey
Seen March 14th, 2022
Posted July 25th, 2018
2,441 posts
12.1 Years
I was miserable at university. I was studying business and I hated it because it was boring and soul-sucking and every day I was there I felt a piece of myself die. There was a moment one night, however, when I was sitting in an Economics lecture and just suddenly thought "What the Hell am I doing here? I hate what this place is turning me into and I'm never going to use this degree and have any chance at future happiness."

At that moment I packed up my stuff mid-lecture and walked out of the room, got in my car and drove home. That was in August 2009. It's now December 2011 and I would have just graduated if I'd stuck with it.
I did the same exact thing just one month later. I don't regret it one bit because everyone who stayed that I still talk to hates their current position in life. It's the moment where I realized there was more to life than keeping up with the joneses and have spent the majority of the past two years traveling, and in those two years I learned more than I did in 13 years of school. :\
Mod of Trade Corner| Pair | Trainer Information

When kings upon the main have clung to pride
And held themselves as masters of the sea
I've held them down beneath the crushing tide
Till they have learned that no one masters me