I turned down a Congressional appointment to the Naval Academy when I was 18. Have kicked myself ever since. A Naval officer would have been a great career.
Not nearly on the same level, but about 19 years ago, I was approached by a guy with a major utility company. After confirming that I was licensed, he said the utility company was looking for someone like me and was willing to skip the right applicant over the usual entry level position (meter reader) and into a 2nd level tech position.
I turned it down and later found out that he was the union steward. If I had taken the job, I would be less than 10 years from a good retirement, rather than being 51 years old with no retirement at this time.
