Hulu and the 10-Second “Life” Rewind

True confession: We watch Hulu. That is how we waste our valuable time.

In the last few weeks our version has added a feature with a little button, an arrow at the end of a curly tail. It’s a 10-second rewind. If you missed what the caption said in the Korean drama you’ve been glued to for three weeks, blip, hit that 10-second rewind quickly and there you have it: “I told your mother she could keep her money. A poor nobody like me couldn’t be paid to leave your life. You weren’t worth it to me,” or some such melodramatic declaration. Voila! You’re back up with the story.

Very powerful stuff!

Which made me think how MUCH I actually need something like this in my everyday life.

If only I’d had the 10 second rewind right after I told the newlyweds at choir practice (who’d been lamenting the great demand for their social presence at lots of out-of-town family events), “Oh, just hurry up and have kids. A new baby is a perfect excuse for not being cajoled into going anywhere you don’t want to go.”

Ugh.

But if I had that 10-second rewind, I could’ve just smiled and said, tactfully, “Oh, isn’t it nice to be so popular and loved?” instead. It reminds me of the ominous “Omega 13” button in the classic sci-fi movie Galaxy Quest. (Does anyone else find themselves quoting GQ about twice a day? Miners, not minors!)

A 10-second rewind button would be the PERFECT remedy for someone like me who finds it impossible to implement any kind of comment filter. My husband happened to ask me the other day, “Do you actually think it out first before you say it, or does it just come out as you’re thinking it?”

The latter, my dear. The latter. This is probably why I like being a writer so much–especially with a word processing program and that amazing “backspace” key. I could really use that in daily life as well.

This sounds like a job for a physicist. Luckily, our oldest son is highly interested in theoretical physics. Maybe I could get him cracking on this technology even before he leaves high school. Although, my husband already called dibs on our son’s first invention–teleportation. But I think as his mom, I should have some say.

I’m sure I’ll be telling him so.

Meanwhile, if it suddenly became a feature of Hulu Plus, now that would be a perk worth the monthly subscription price.