The fiftieth class reunion thread has me thinking.

I wasted time trying to play sports when I should have studied.

What would you have done differently in high school?

Bought a steel truck?

J/K funnin ya Wabi

I definitely would have payed a bit more attention to my schoolwork

You mean who would I have done differently in high school?

Yes.

Ran away and joined the foreign legion

I would like to have been on the football team but my dad would not allow me. And I would be all up in shop class and FFA, those guys had a great time while I was taking the college prep track. I would have made it work.

There was this REALLY cute foreign exchange student...................

Nothing.


I did what I wanted to.

+1

I did, but it wasn't what it was cranked up to be.

I would’ve gotten wasted more

In school? Nothing really. Taken Russian as a language instead of German? Would have helped later.

Buy $1,000 worth of Bitcoin in 2010 when it was $0.06 a coin.

I would have banged more chubby unpopular girls!

Been nicer to the people who were "invisible".

Wouldn't do anything different in high school since any change there wouldn't have much effect on my life's trajectory.

Now college (I started in 1970) - I'd change a lot of stuff, mostly get into a computer science major and go on to a Master's degree, instead of waiting 10 years and using the last of my GI bill benefits to take a six month tech school course in computer programming.

You're all assuming that you'd know what you know now and would do it differently. In reality, you'd only know what you knew then and you'd do exactly the same thing again.
If I could go back knowing what I know now, my whole world would be different. I can remember a couple pieces of advise that I received that I would listen to this time and make some big changes.

I'd have spread some classes out a bit. I had taken all my major college prep classes by the end of my junior year. Algebra I and Biology freshman year, Algebra II and Geometry sophomore year, Trig, Chemistry and Physics junior year. Saved Advanced Trig and Calculus, Typing, Drafting and Art for senior year. Every year had History, English, Phys Ed and Social Studies. Made time for football and lettered 3 years. Had the same history teacher from grades 7 thru 12 . . .

Wasn't much of a social butterfly in HS . . . saved that up for college . . .

I would have screwed more church girls.

Probably would have tried to steal home more often. At least rounded 3rd to see I could be waved home

A better education than just K-12 wasted all those years in high school and after running around partying and not thinking about the future.

I also wasted time on cars.

Probably not much. Wouldn't of gotten so serious with that one girl, but that wasn't all that bad.

I wish I would of done better in high school. Spent more time with the books and bumped up my grades. After I got out of the Army I went back to college and was pretty much an A and B student. My real mistake is letting a certain girl get away from me in 1979. My biggest mistake in life.

kwg

Wouldn’t change One thing about it. Fastest cars, prettiest girls and a decent college prep education.

The Senior trip sucked bigly though.

Not much, loved high school, loved football, hated track, but they wouldn’t give us a letter jacket if we didn’t run track. College was not an option, step corksucker ran me out of the house the day I graduated. I learned a good trade, never had a job I didn’t quit for another. I have a great retirement.

I would have tried to work it out with first wife more, but wouldn’t have my boy or the great wife I have now, so I really wouldn’t change cshit.

With the mentality I have now?,....I would have learned a language and a set of skills that would allow me to live in a country where the government is an afterthought.

Where would that be?

Ok yeah

Wish I didn’t work at Wendys 10,11 th grade.

Fouck that place.


That’s what I think has made me hate other humans so much. Whiney ass frosty licking old bitch ass people, fuggin Karens.


If only….

Panama sounds promising.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda?

If a frog had wings, he wouldn't bump his ass when he jumped!


After 53 years, my biggest "regret" is wasting time on "regrets".

Did I make some boneheaded decisions? Hell yeah! Made a few good ones too!
Had a cousin who came up with an idea for a swivel elbow that could be used in the oil patch. Somebody saw it and hounded him into getting a patent on it! He died a VERY rich man!

Retirement could be better......but it could be a HELL of a lot worse!
Nothing to brag about, but I'm not gonna bellyache either.

"If, You Could Do It All Over?"

I was told by a wise woman many years ago, when I was young:

"If you could go back and relive your past all over again, knowing what you know now...
You probably wouldn't make all the same mistakes you made in your past. But, you would
likely make a whole new set of mistakes, that would be much worse than your previous mistakes!

I played 3 sports, I would have ditched that and studied harder. I would spend less time drinking beer and chasing women, well, scratch that?

Vive le mort, Vive la guerre ?????

I have a cousin who’s lived in Costa Rica for 40 years now. I’ve visited and stayed there 3 times with her while doing offshore fishing.

Seemed stable at the times that I’ve visited. Super nice people.

^^^
Like

RC is spot on. Sure with hindsight I would have done things differently, but the decisions I made at the time were the best ones I could have made based on the information then available.

The OP's question is one my kids often ask me, and my answer used to be a little different (perhaps to project lessons learned in the fullness of time to make their own decisions a little easier).

With the past now in sharper focus, I have no regrets....

Tapped more A$$.

The boys in the band were in a bus with the cheerleaders and the band girls! I was on a bus with other hard dicks.

L’autre chanson de la Legion Étrangère 😉

I’d had bought a 63 split and a 70 Hemi cuda not driven them and put them in a controlled in Environment . Now I’d retire.

Nothing then. It was after High School where my mistakes were made.

I would have noticed the "invisible people" rather than ignoring them. I would have played the sports that I wasn't allowed to play. I would have been a better friend to someone who I could have helped.

I would have taken high school shop class.

My jr high shop classes carried me through 30 years of engineering.

So that explains the rough looking threads on those barrel tenons.

Unbelievable to you guys, but I maybe should have quit high school (other than welding and machine shop and drafting I wasn't doing schidt anyway) and took an ag well driller up on the offer of learning the trade. I'd worked a summer for him, we got along great, he was a natural born teacher, and I loved the work. He had nothing but daughters that were not even interested. His business became a huge success, he had 5 rigs when he sold out. His wife told me at his funeral, you broke Larry's heart when you quit, he planned on you being his partner. Who knows?

my dirty lathe


My brother took shop all the way through college. His barrel tenon threads are perfect.

When I was an engineer I made sloppy sketches and handed them to drafters, tech writers, and technicians who made nice documentation and prototypes.

I signed thousands of drawings and documents with my sloppy signature.

Now I am old and stuck with my own sloppiness.

Knowing what I know today, I absolutely would have done things differently.

But a kid deals with the world from a kid's perspective.

I only got to bang my high school art teacher, if I'd have known then what I know now I'd have tried to bang em all.

Perhaps learned how to use fewer commas...

I wouldn't drive my buddies 442 through the wooden bleachers at the football field...

Hi school was a blast .... academics be damned, I learned that schit later in real life...

And an AC Cobra or Shelby or two!

Quit football sooner so I could have hunted more.

I would have taken a year off and gone around the country and beat up all the younger guys that post crap here so they may not have grown up and posted their crap here...

If I could take my brain and experience with me....sure.

If I had to relearn mistakes again...no effing way.

BaaaaaHaaaaa!

Should have toughened up so you didn't need a wheelchair for a tweeked ankle. LOL

If I could do it all over again, I wouldn't have donated my brain.

A wise lady told me years ago, that if you could go back in time and redo things all over again...

You probably wouldn't make the same mistakes you previously made - But would make
a whole new set of mistakes - more grievous than your original ones.

A major regret I have is I never served in the Military.

I shoulda done it right after I got out of the Peace Corps when I was 26. Woulda made me an old guy relative to most new recruits I know. We had two Veterans in my cohort in Ghana, one had served two tours enlisted in the Marines, another was an AF Veteran who had crewed on one of those "Spooky" gunships in Vietnam. Both were in the Peace Corps for the same reason I was; not ready to work a 9-5. Another guy took a commission in the AF after his Peace Corps service and ended up a few years later being the ranking Officer in command of the Embassy Marines during an incident in Nairobi (incidentally the Embassy Marines in Ghana had cool "Africa Corps t-shirts).

Anyways I got talked out of it on account of it was time to start a "career". Really, after going on thirty-five years, four years fewer at what I'm doing now woulda made no difference at all at this point.

I would have spent way more time with my grandfathers.

I wouldn't have allowed myself to become a chick magnet..

Clark...is that tail chuck a Llambrich? Is it worth the 500 bucks?

The real beauty of it is, even in a wheelchair, I could still kick your sorry ass..

Old fat man can’t even pack out your own elk.

LOL

I would have taken Spanish in school. Would have saved me mucho dolor de cabeza later on in life.

Should a packed up and left the minute I got out of high school

Why the name change?

Since Shrap is such a weenie and all....

He is a coward, if he met you or shrap he would run away.

Banged more girls in my class..

Are you Blackheart's sockpuppet?

Join the USAF, as I originally intended, get the hell of New Jersey and never look back.

No but if I knew where you were in junior high school, you wouldn't be riding a bike now...

In high school, I don’t know that I’d change much.
I had some great friends, a nice car, and life was pretty good.
After graduation, I went to work for The Old Man, at Oldhams Auto Salvage.
I didn’t make much, but really didn’t need much. I had everything I wanted! I considered going to college to become a history teacher. You folks that know me know of me passion for that.
Then I fell in love.l
I wanted to start a life for myself, so I figured the Army was the best place for that.
So Carol and I got married and I joined the Army,
I don’t regret anything. I loved Carol (still do) , and I consider Ben one of my greatest blessings.
Besides, American History as l learned, is not taught today.
Today is taught “revisionist history” how we’ve always been a slave nation, and stuff like that. I know damned well, that a guy like me, who loves this country, would be outta work!
7mm

I am not riding a bike now. I am sitting on the couch laughing at an envious and bitter old man.

Bought as many big block muscle cars as I could find, especially cars with the 426 Hemi, and put them in storage. Back then you could buy a car with a Hemi for less than $3K. But admittedly $3K was a lot different then than it is now.

Be Careful what you wish for!

Hahaha I read that again and that sounds pretty bad. He was with. Too drunk to drive but was hanging out the passenger side window directing me where to go in the pitch black dark with no lights on.

Bought a building and a lot of cars, gas crisis muscle cars were cheap

Would not be in band, biggest waste of time ever. Take more shop classes instead.

Would listen to the guys who said that computers are the future, lol.

Did not excell in high school and no one cares. College is what paid the bills.

Most valuable class: Typing

I would have had a more open mind while I was in the USARMY and probably would have retired after 20 years. I would have taken better care of my mom while she was still here.
I better stop.......

High school? I’d like to take back some unkind words and actions, and I should have insisted on taking some music classes. Probably should have taken girls less seriously.

College I did pretty well, fortunately.

If I were asked 10 years after high school I would have had a list, 20 years - maybe not as long, but now - I’m good. USAF 3 months after dropping out, Retired with pension young enough for Metro Dade Fire Dept career and retired, pension. Yeah, I’m good

Looking back I really do not see anything I would change. Pizz poor regrets? Yeah but nothing of significance.

Nothing, I did it my way.

Man, what a question - it has been a fairly long run. In the micro view - probably a bunch of individual choices/actions/efforts that can be re-thought and maybe re-done if that were possible. In the macro view - looking at the sum total - let it be.

yea I am about the same

Wish I made better decisions as a young man, but I'm content with how it turned out. Like anyone else, I'd love to do it over again.