If I Knew Then What I Know Now

I felt an oddly guilty sense of relief this week when my preferred airline sent out a notice that frequent flier status will be extended for an additional year due to travel disruptions during the pandemic. In the big picture, it’s a trivial concern (though a strangely addictive activity, as John Hodgman makes clear in his superb book Medallion Status), but it served as yet another reminder of our shifted reality. Who knew we might actually come to miss airports?

With that in mind, see the video below, a funny time travel bit where Julie Nolke travels back to January, 2020 to explain to her previous self where things are going to go….

David Crotty

@davidacrotty

David Crotty is a Senior Consultant at Clarke & Esposito, a boutique management consulting firm focused on strategic issues related to professional and academic publishing and information services. Previously, David was the Editorial Director, Journals Policy for Oxford University Press. He oversaw journal policy across OUP’s journals program, drove technological innovation, and served as an information officer. David acquired and managed a suite of research society-owned journals with OUP, and before that was the Executive Editor for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, where he created and edited new science books and journals, along with serving as a journal Editor-in-Chief. He has served on the Board of Directors for the STM Association, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and CHOR, Inc., as well as The AAP-PSP Executive Council. David received his PhD in Genetics from Columbia University and did developmental neuroscience research at Caltech before moving from the bench to publishing.

Discussion

4 Thoughts on "If I Knew Then What I Know Now"

This is so clever. If only it was not so. Thank you for the laugh.

By Kathleen Dernoga
Apr 17, 2020, 11:33 AM

What if she were contagious but not showing symptoms? Time travel is irresponsible right now. If you absolutely must time travel, at least wear a mask and remain six feet away from yourself.