The Loophole in the Hedonic Treadmill
Reminds me also of the aphorism &quot;The only things you will regret are the things you <i>didn&#x27;t</i> do&quot; (my emphasis).<p>Those who decided to have plastic surgery are &#x27;happier&#x27; than those who thought about it but decided not to go ahead. Would be interesting to see if a similar effect shows up in other large decisions - eg, people who decided not to buy a house v those who took on the debt; people who decided not to move overseas v those who took the plunge.<p>In other words, this may have nothing to do with plastic surgery and may reflect a deeper underlying source of (un)happiness.<p>Me personally, I have just one regret in life: that I didn&#x27;t rob a bank when I had the chance.<p>[EDIT TO ADD]<p>When I was fifteen, I headed in to my local bank to withdraw some cash. Troublingly, my &#x27;local&#x27; branch was close to where I was at boarding school, some 100 miles from the branch where my account was established - and it transpired that the signature on my account was still my mother. We&#x27;d not updated it since the account was opened nearly ten years earlier.<p>Maybe they felt sorry for the poor boarding school kid with no money. I suspect I hammed that up a little. Because rather than referring me back to the original branch, the customer service representative headed out the back to see what she could do. For a LONG time.<p>About fifteen minutes in to the wait, I leant over her desk and noticed, in among the paperclips, a 20 cent piece (this is Australia). I looked around - cameras, probably, but nobody watching.<p>And so my brain starts ticking - surely I could casually reach out, grab that coin, and pocket it without being noticed. Surely she wouldn&#x27;t notice on her return - if she even knew the 20c was there. It was a risk ... but for the rest of my life, I&#x27;d be able to tell people I robbed a bank!<p>I probably spent another fifteen minutes pondering the decision. Which was too long - she returned, and the opportunity was lost.<p>For what it&#x27;s worth, I was able to withdraw funds legally. She&#x27;d had a great conversation with a teller at the originating branch, who it turned out knew my father (everybody does). Based on descriptions of my father, and comparisons to me, my rep felt confident I was indeed who I said I was and changed the signature on the account from my mother to myself.<p>Now THAT&#x27;S a great customer service story as well. Or a tale of social engineering being the weakest link in any security plans.<p>But for me, nearly twenty years later, it&#x27;s just the story about the day I could&#x27;ve robbed a bank ... and didn&#x27;t.