Originally Posted By Mr X Well, not exactly. But sort of. A few years back (before the great crash came upon us all), I invested in a stock that I thought was a hot one. I'd done my research pretty thoroughly and planned to hang on to it for a long time. Well, the stock was very volatile and for a while I was out some 30% of my investment and, unwisely, got freaked out by the market fluctuations enough that I decided to get rid of it if/when I had a decent opportunity. The chance came a few months later, when it finally rose up in price again to the point where I'd made a nice 10% on my investment, so I sold. Looking at the stock now, it ended up skyrocketing to unbelievable heights (even through the crash), in a matter of just a few years it surpassed the likes of Microsoft, Google, and comparable stocks when looking at a relatively short period. Since I sold it literally increased by thousands of percents. So my original relatively modest investment would now, today (if only I'd hung on and not freaked out, duh), be worth roughly $200,000. That's my official "the fish that got away" story. The one you can tell your grandkids about. So, what are some stories about "the fish that got away" for everyone else? No need to limit the conversation to investments, or even money. Just thought I'd start a topic to discuss stuff like this and how people feel about what could have been if only they'd done x, y, or z... Discuss.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost I don't think that anything positive comes out of "could of's", "should of's", or "would of's". Things are what they are. It makes no sense to look backwards toward a situation that you can no longer do anything about. All that does is depress you. Find another place to invest that has the same potential and this time don't panic. You cannot fix what is already history.
Originally Posted By Mr X Not the point, Goof. I'm not particularly depressed about it. I see it as a learning experience. But my point in posting about it was more to chuckle over stuff that, had we done x, y, or z, could've turned out very differently. Do you have any such stories? Or did you just show up to rain on my topic?
Originally Posted By wahooskipper My father and his business partner were part of the early computer software rise out in Southern California. One of the first programs they developed was the first software that helped airline flight attendants "bid" on their schedules. It caught the eye of another software developer. That gentleman called my father and asked if he would like to go into business with him. My dad listened to the guy and thought he was a knucklehead and was going nowhere fast. This other fellow pursued my dad and his partner for quite a while until my father, with his notorius temper, ended the conversations for good. That other guy was Bill Gates. So, while it wasn't really MY big one that got away...I think it is safe to say that my life (along with the lives of the next 50 generations of wahooskippers) was forever changed.
Originally Posted By Mr X Wow... only one (genuine) post in and I've already been trumped...bigtime! Great story Wahoo! Thanks (and er...sorry to hear that!).
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Yeah, I wish I never knew that story but, as you can imagine, it comes up at family gatherings quite often.
Originally Posted By Mr X lol...I'm sure! That sorta reminds me of that obscure dude who was once a part owner of Appleco, and sold off his shares for a few thousand bucks (would've been a billionaire). Funny how that stuff goes down, sometimes. By the way, to SportG I didn't mean to dismiss your woulda coulda philosophy, I believe in it myself very strongly...it's just that for this topic I was more looking for interesting stories is all.
Originally Posted By disneydad109 I dropped out of college after two years,draft status went at once to 1A,I had already had the pre-induction physical so I knew what was coming next. I really didn't want to go in the Army SO I used all my brains to avoid the draft and enlisted in the Marines instead. Ah, If only I knew. I bet that showed that school who was a dumbie !
Originally Posted By KatieKate123 Mine isn't that good. I dropped out of Radford to move to Fredericksburg to live with some friends. I gave up the college of my dreams, and my early 20's to live in a apartment with a bunch of guys, and getting pregnant with my first daughter at 20 and having her at age of 21. Though I would never give up the two precious gifts I recieved, I do wish sometimes I could go back and remake that decision and have my children after going to college. But hey I get to be 27 and in college, and doing all of the college things now
Originally Posted By Ursula There are a few jobs I turned down or chose not to chase down. One was at Warner Brothers and one was at Sony. I still think I made the best decision. Both of those positions were technical in nature and although that would have led to a huge salary, it isn't really what I do best.
