Alternate Lives
Deb wrote a piece entitled “Sometimes I Wonder,” and I do, too. At many points my life might have gone in other directions and while I’m not entirely sure that free will isn’t an illusion, I speculate on who I would be if it had.
In seventh grade, I had it all figured out. I was going to the University of Vermont for undergrad, University of Colorado at Boulder for medical school and would hang out my shingle as an orthopedic surgeon in Vail. Had I done that, I’d surely now co-own a restaurant along with my condo and my Range Rover.
In high school, I was set to graduate from the University of Chicago and then Columbia Law. By now, I’d have made partner and would probably be divorced once, if not twice.
I could have stayed in San Francisco in the late eighties and stuck to doing stand-up comedy. Maybe I wouldn’t have my own sitcom, but I’d at least be opening for headliners in Vegas.
Later, had I really committed to being a writer in Los Angeles, I’d probably have gotten a staff position on some Fox or WB Network show. Chances are I’d also have seen what the inside of a minor celebrity rehab facility looks like.
Instead of going to Paris in 1987, I could have moved to Minneapolis with the other folks from Wilson Learning. By now, I’d own a home in Minnetonka be thirty pounds heavier than my current weight.
Rather than coming west to grad school, I might have remained a corporate consultant; surely I’d have sold my business by now and be a sought-after motivational speaker.
And then I might have finished up the Ph.D. instead teaching at Cascadia. I could have a tenured position by now at a four year school in the Southeast.
I’ve not real regrets about how things have turned out; I wish I could sample those other lives, though, just to be sure.
In seventh grade, I had it all figured out. I was going to the University of Vermont for undergrad, University of Colorado at Boulder for medical school and would hang out my shingle as an orthopedic surgeon in Vail. Had I done that, I’d surely now co-own a restaurant along with my condo and my Range Rover.
In high school, I was set to graduate from the University of Chicago and then Columbia Law. By now, I’d have made partner and would probably be divorced once, if not twice.
I could have stayed in San Francisco in the late eighties and stuck to doing stand-up comedy. Maybe I wouldn’t have my own sitcom, but I’d at least be opening for headliners in Vegas.
Later, had I really committed to being a writer in Los Angeles, I’d probably have gotten a staff position on some Fox or WB Network show. Chances are I’d also have seen what the inside of a minor celebrity rehab facility looks like.
Instead of going to Paris in 1987, I could have moved to Minneapolis with the other folks from Wilson Learning. By now, I’d own a home in Minnetonka be thirty pounds heavier than my current weight.
Rather than coming west to grad school, I might have remained a corporate consultant; surely I’d have sold my business by now and be a sought-after motivational speaker.
And then I might have finished up the Ph.D. instead teaching at Cascadia. I could have a tenured position by now at a four year school in the Southeast.
I’ve not real regrets about how things have turned out; I wish I could sample those other lives, though, just to be sure.
posted by Professor Dave at 12:44 PM
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