Where would you Time Travel?
When it comes to thought-provoking discussion topics, one of the most intriguing has got to be: “If you could go back in time, where would you go?” I asked a friend of mine this question recently and he said, “I’ve never thought about it.” I find this mind-boggling, as I’ve spent days of my life contemplating just the rules of such an endeavor, never mind the actual answer to the question. There are so many variables to consider:
How long can I travel back in time? An hour? A day? A year?
Do I get to choose when to come back, or is the duration predetermined?
Can I stay if I choose to?
Am I going merely as an observer, or do I get to interact with my environment?
Will my actions change history?
If I do interact with my environment, will I know the language of the people I meet? Will I arrive with the proper clothing and currency? Will I have access to basic toiletries and lodging?
Can I go back as myself and relive an event from my own life? If so, do I go with my 53-year-old brain and understanding of the world, or do I go back to the person I was at that time?
Once I arrive, am I bound to the travel restrictions of that time? For instance, can I visit multiple places with the snap of a finger, or would I have to walk or ride in a bus, boat or carriage?
Can I die, be harmed or put in prison while I’m away?
It can get complicated quickly, and each answer to the above questions will radically change the central answer to the central question.
When I asked a few of my Christian friends, they didn’t need to think twice: witness Jesus’s resurrection. Fair enough. Another friend of mine thought that seeing her grandparents as young adults would make for a good trip. I like that one a lot. Some of my music-centric friends thought about attending one of the seminal concerts by their favorite bands. One friend thought about witnessing the JFK assassination and paying particular attention to the grassy knoll to see if there’s any truth to the conspiracy theories.
For me, I’ll make the following assumptions: I will not interact with my environment in a meaningful way, but I can make small talk, order food at a restaurant, etc.. I can observe people, places and events, I can eat food, and I can be visible if I choose to be or an invisible observer when appropriate. I am not subject to injury, death or imprisonment. I can travel via the methods appropriate for the time period. I can sleep in some other dimension, as opposed to living along in a dingy motel somewhere. Money is no object. I can not change history. I can stay for up to a month.
Given these assumptions, I would consider time-traveling to Milwaukee on September 23, 1957 and staying for at least three weeks. I have the following in mind:
I’ll first attend County Stadium to witness the Milwaukee Braves game on Monday night, September 23, and watch Hank Aaron hit a game-winning, league-clinching, two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning and celebrate with over 40,000 other fans in attendance. A few weeks later, I will attend games 4 and 5 of the World Series and watch the Braves beat the Yankees, and I’ll stick around in Milwaukee to watch/listen/cheer/celebrate with my fellow fans on October 9th and 10th while the Braves beat the Yankees in the Bronx. I could try to travel to New York to see the games, but I think it might actually be more fun in Milwaukee.
Since there’s a lot of time to kill in between these two events, I’ve got some ideas. I’d like to take a bus to Memphis, Tennessee, and on September 27th see The Biggest Show of Stars, including Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, The Drifters, The Everly Brothers, Frankie Lymon and Paul Anka. Not too shabby. And two days earlier, on September 25th, I can see Elvis Presley at the Eagle’s Nest, also in Memphis! Even better, the weather in Memphis that week looks to be in the mid-70s to the low-80s, so I’d try to take a boat tour, eat some good southern food and get a flavor for the area.
If possible, I’d then like to quickly travel up to Green Bay for their 21-17 victory over the Bears at the inaugural game at New City Stadium (now Lambeau Field). I’ll be there with 31,000 other fans, and future president Richard M. Nixon (and current - at the time - Vice President) will dedicate the stadium at half-time.
During the following week I’ll go back to Milwaukee and visit both sets of my grandparents. I knew my maternal grandparents, Elmer and Louise, quite well as a young adult, but I’d love to see them again, hear them laugh, watch them cook a meal, play cards, sing in the choir, etc. I’d even take a few bus rides with my grandfather at the helm as a city driver. What a hoot that would be. And then I can go just a short drive away to my paternal grandparents, Edwin and Mildred, who I didn’t know nearly as well in my lifetime, and get a fuller picture of who they were.
I would also kick around the land where I grew up in Menominee Falls and Brookfield. None of the homes I lived in will be there yet, but I’d still like to see how things looked prior subdivisions being developed.
During my downtime, I’ll watch current movies in theaters. It’s hard to know exactly what films will be played during this three-week period, but they might include Jailhouse Rock, Sweet Smell of Success and A Face in the Crowd. Maybe a few older films will be playing around town as well. And I’m sure there will be local concerts worth seeing. I’d also like to attend a Reform Judaism service somewhere in Milwaukee or northern suburbs and see what the services consisted of back then, and I’d like to visit Capitol Drive Lutheran Church where I’ll attend Sunday School a few decades later.
That sounds like a pretty good three-week time-travel vacation. If the parameters were to change, so would my answer. What if I can only go back for one hour? What if I can change history? What if I can snap my fingers and change locations? What if I can interact with my environment with absolutely no worry about changing history?
Oh, the possibilities are endless. Sorta like this blog entry!
Where and when would you like to go?