There’s also the Wednesday What-Ifs:
1. What if you awoke one morning to discover that, overnight, everyone else in the world had perished, leaving you to be the sole human on the planet? Bleah. Read Earth Abides some time. Not a happy prospect at all. On the one hand, I’d not be all that interested in sticking around and watching human infrastructure decay (thus losing my water, my electricity, etc.). On the other hand, until I discovered how/why it had happened, and taken a stab at discovering why I was spared, I suspect I would be too curious to slip the mortal coil too soon.
2. What if you awoke one morning to find that, overnight, you’d transformed into a member of the opposite gender (if you’re a guy, you woke up as a girl, and vice versa)?
HARRIS: I could never be a woman. If I were, I would do nothing but sit at home all day playing with my breasts.
— Steve Martin (b. 1945), LA Story (1991)
3. What if you awoke one morning to find that you were living in the year 3003? I would be highly depressed (friends! family! gone!), and highly curious.
4. What if you awoke one morning to the realization that you had somehow lost all four of your limbs? Well, if I went swimming, you could call me Bob … Um, but, seriously, it would be quite the shock. I think I would rather have that happen than lose one of my main senses, but it would still be pretty damned depressing.
5. What if you awoke one morning to discover that everyone in the world looked exactly the same… including you? It would be interesting to see how quickly people found ways to distinguish themselves again. I would predict a run on hair stylists, hair dye, and tattoo parlors.
1: “At last! All the time in the world!” And I don’t wear glasses! Nyah!
2: Hmm. Being a homely woman is probably even worse than being a homely guy.
3: I don’t know. Is the world ruled by apes?
4: Ack! Who would turn the pages for me!?!
5: Um, would everybody have to look like me?
Gah! All-time scariest TZ ever.