| Posted by Ken Ramsley , Feb 19,1999,10:30 | Post Reply | Forum |
I keep remembering an old Star Trek episode - "City on the Edge of Forever" where McCoy gets sent back in time, and as a result, messes up the future by saving the life of a woman named Edith Keeler.
Kirk and Spock travel back to a slightly earlier time to prevent McCoy from saving Edith - who, if she had lived would have worked to prevent the USA from entering WW II - thus allowing Nazi Germany to win the war. Kirk finds Edith, falls in love with her, then must stand by and watch as Edith dies when struck by a passing delivery van.
I have no idea how the world might have been had Jenny lived. And as I lie awake at night phantasizing about time machines, I think about all the other preventable accidents and tragedies in this world. If I could save Jenny, then I should also save others, and still others more... and where would it end? No, I don't want to play the role of the guardian angels.
On the other hand, if I had the opportunity to travel back, it would be awfully hard not to dial in 11:20, January 3, 1999 and that icy road in eastern Hopkinton...
Ken