Call me Clarence...

So I just watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and I got to thinking what all of us on AH.com would see if Clarence showed up this Xmas.

What would our world be like (and how would it be worse) if you were never born?

I hope everyone finds the edification and self assurance that George Bailey found this holiday season.

Also, Very Merry Christmas everyone.
 
So, you mean something about posting a personal POD in which one was never born? If so, let me think about it, and I'll post up my results tomorrow.
 
I'd do one myself, but... unfortunately...

...I realized almost nothing would have changed and even less would be changed for the better.

I'm using you all as therapy. Not for the first time either...

Again... MERRY CRIMMUS!
 
Well, let's do a little run down:

-I helped name my brother Sam, as at the time I was obsessed with Green Eggs and Ham, without me, if he's even born, he'll have a different name.

-My girlfriend has told me several times if I didn't date her, she'd be drinking and doing hard drugs (and addicted) like several members of her family at one point.

-I introduced my girlfriend's brother to his boyfriend, my best friend to his girlfriend, and help two other friends when they were still in the pursuit of the person they are currently dating.

-Two of my online friends cited me as a person who helped them get out of strong bouts of depression.

-A somewhat minor trollfic would not exist.

-Half the people I know wouldn't be nearly as into Batman or Rush.


On the flip side however:

-I would have never introduced my dad to World of Warcraft, preventing the chain of events that lead to their divorce.

-A relatively small internet forum dedicated to gaming would still exist (I pretty much unintentionally killed it).

-Without me being an easy target for bullying in middle school, another student might have gone down a (slightly) better path in life, (possibly) preventing his eventual murder.

-The first band I was ever in doesn't create two of the worst songs ever recorded(with me on vocals).

-Lockport's mayor is quite possibly primaried in 2011 (it was incredibly close, before they got absentee ballots it was just 2 votes in his favor). He nearly lost to a slightly crazy old lady in the primary. This would have ensured victory for his opponent, who in all fairness was probably better.
 
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Wow, those flipsides were kinda harsh...

As for me, a POV would be easy to generate, given that I was on a remote area when I was about to be born, and I was strangling myself with my umbilical cord, so if the c-section that got me into this world somewhere at night in the 20th day of April in 1987 had come out too late...

  • My sister (born in 1991) would have been the only daughter that my family would have had; my parents tried again in 1995 and 1999 to no success. They would be more motivated, however, to get it right a few years down the line, even if my sis would be too big for any subsequent little brother. Not that it wouldn't be much of a bother by that point.
  • My family would have less debts, given that my stint at a boarding school was a fiasco of unprecedented proportions (on the flipside, I did gained a lot of experience that helped me when I came back to my hometown) which left them indebted with some of my uncles.
  • My father would not have given up on gaming, and would actually join the Air Force for good.
  • My parents would have emigrated to the United States. Back in the day, it would have been easy for them to get there, since a female cousin of my mom was working there as a maid, and she would have recommended her to work over there as such, but my father opposed to that plan, since I was still too young, and he wanted her to stay at home, in Tijuana, for mine sake. So, with myself out of the picture, it's likely that my dad would have allowed her to go to work to the U.S., leading to my sister being born in San Diego, and my family settling there permanently.
  • Mom would still be working at something. One of the main reasons she quitted her job was because of the fact I have ADHD, and she left it so she could take care of myself, since she didn't have anyone to entrust me with.
  • Some dipshits at junior high school would have one fool less to pester.
And that's all I can think about. Overall, neither better off nor worse off.
 
Wow, those flipsides were kinda harsh...

I generally think of it as a pretty good thing that I exist, but I'll admit that I definitely had a part in things that would end up being bad, it's entirely possible that without the flipside would still happen. Except for those worst songs ever written (and I'm not fucking kidding, they are that bad), that's the one thing that would definitely be averted.
 
Without his lovely infant son on his mind, my father, present in Arik Sharon's command tent at a most-likely crucial point of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, might have stumbled or stammered or something to distract Sharon from coming up with The Plan that saves Israel from defeat...

Thermonuclear warfare results.
 
A few things:
-Someone else would have made the January 1, 1980 local paper as the last baby born in the 1970's.
-My Aunt and Uncle would not have gotten together. (They met after my aunt asked for prayer for me, oddly enough.)
-A few people would need blood from another source.
-My school's academic team might have not made it as far as we did at various times.
-A few local restaurants might have had to close. (I have become nearly indispensible there.)
-A few minor PoDs (mostly having to do with SC politics) wouldn't have been used here.
-I wouldn't have known a lot of people, and I'd like to think I helped make their lives better.
-A lot fewer people would think of Taylor Swift as a Fairy Princess.
 
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