What Would You Do Over Again If You Could?
Posted February 26, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
What would you do over again if you could? For some, it would be a romantic rendezvous, for others, a special day with family and friends. What about re-doing things that went horribly wrong — like your drunken best-man speech, or botched job interview?
Unfortunately we can’t go back in time, but if we could, what would Canadians choose?
According to an Angus Reid poll, 28% would like a second chance at connecting with a flirtatious stranger. That’s right, more than a quarter of us regret not pouncing when someone flashed their pearly whites at us in a public place, while 50% said they would like to revisit an exotic land.
What are some of the things we regret doing?
Botching a job interview was chosen by 23%, while sending a threatening, mocking or stalking email was picked by 19%.
Three men to every one woman would do over a drunken speech they regretted making.
It’s all part of International Do Over Day, an event dedicated to getting it right the second time. Organizers know there are some things you can’t re-create but for those you might be able to try, try again, they’ve posted a number of facetious rules to follow.
Among them:
“Never attempt a do over while under the influence of marijuana (to avoid certain disappointment over your inability to recall having done it).”
And “if in an office or room at home, put a sign on your door, or advise co-workers, friends and family of a do over in progress, and that the best thing they can do is act normal until you’re done.”
See the rest of the instructions here.
“Do Over Day is a chance to redeem all the wrongs you’ve done, while celebrating the things you’ve gotten right in life,” said Jeff Wills of Wills & Co.
“You just need to visit the website to see that Canadians are begging for a Do Over Day. Because of the massive thumbs up this idea has received nationally, we’d love to see Do Over Day go global,” said Wills, adding: “And we urge all Canadians to write Prime Minister Harper demanding that this auspicious time be declared a paid national holiday in perpetuity.”
So what are some of those repeated regrets? Many seem to centre on love.
“I wouldn’t have bought that necklace for the girl I liked knowing she is manipulative and materialistic,” a Toronto man named Pat relates on the Do Over Day website.
“I would RIGHT my decision to date the jerk who turned out to be nothing more than a con-artist,” another local laments.
Not everyone wants to stop something from happening again. “The man I was crazy about showed up at my front door on my half birthday with a cake he’d made himself, all lit with candles, in the rain, under an umbrella,” recalls O.L. from Toronto. “I’d do that moment over and over.”
Others have more mundane wishes.
“Definitely that perm I got back in the 80’s,” a Cornwall resident named John explains. “Seemed like a good idea then.”
Even the staff at CityNews.ca has gotten into the spirit of this thing. This is the second time we’ve written this story. And if there was time, yes, we’d probably go back and improve on it again.
Maybe next year’s Do Over Day.
