November 23, 2019

What would you do with a Groundhog Day time loop?

I watched a movie recently that was similar to "Groundhog Day" in that the main character relived the same day over and over. I don't know if "Groundhog Day" invented the genre, but it's pretty amazing to think of the number of movies following the same plot: "Before I Fall," "Edge of Tomorrow," and "Happy Death Day" (the movie I just watched) to name a few.

Columbia Pictures

The movie got me thinking about what I would do if I were to ever be caught in a Groundhog Day time loop. First, it would depend on what happens during the repeating day. If, like in the case of "Edge of Tomorrow" or "Happy Death Day," I end up dying, my top priority would be to prevent that from happening. Death is no fun. I would spend each iteration trying to figure out how to change my fate.

What if the day was a normal day like in "Groundhog Day"? My first reaction was, "I hope it's not a Monday!" Repeating a typical working Monday would be awful. But then, if I really was stuck in a work day, I'd stop going to work once I found out what was happening to me. I'd take the day off and do something else instead.

What if the repeating day was a great day, like a vacation to Disney World? I'd be happy to relive it the first few times. I'd probably make tweaks to my schedule to go on that ride I didn't get to go on the first time or to try the restaurant I didn't eat at.  However, I wonder if I would tire of it after a while. As with the work scenario, would I eventually ditch Disney World to spend the day doing something else?

In the end, I decided that as long as something catastrophic doesn't happen, it doesn't matter which day repeats. If I knew I'd have the day to live over again, I can do whatever I want to today. There's a sort of freedom in the "Groundhog Day" scenario that we don't get in ordinary life. You may be wondering, "Why wait for a time loop to make those choices? Why not do those things today?" The reason is that there are consequences in real life. If I don't show up for work day after day, I'll lose my job. If I eat sweets and fattening foods all day (something I'm likely to do if the day resets itself), my body will be in pretty bad shape.

If I think about it more, there could be a bucket list of things I'd do even if I weren't stuck in a time loop, but it might not be so bad to actually relive Groundhog Day over and over again. :-)