Back in January, I somehow got to thinking of some what – ifs in my life, including what if I'd not found h2g2, which morphed into what if h2g2 didn't exist at all? Then I started wondering who else had lives that would've been different. And then, the dangerous part – I decided to ask¹.

If h2g2 never existed...

If it hadn’t existed the joy of internet friendship would have passed me by. I would never have known that it’s possible to love and grieve for people I’d never met but who shared the same offset view of the world.


I’d never have known that it is possible for me to write and almost as importantly, to be read by others. The joy of research and reading piles of stuff I’d never even considered before, what a learning curve!



I’d be much poorer without the experiences of love, friendship and even the loss of researchers who shuffled off this mortal coil.


Nothing but warm fuzzy feelings about H2G2.

Fizzymouse

And another conversation in the responses, that would make you think that topic drift just comes naturally to Researchers

fords Would never have taught my son to swear in Scottish if it wasn't for H2G2. 2legs would never have peed up my living room windows, I would not have met my husband either.

Serephina

If it wasn't for your son, the phrase "right in the tits" would not be common parlance in our house



If h2g2 had never existed, I would have been a very lonely geek. I would never have met my closest friends or my husband or gotten drunk in London as many times as I have (to this day I still don't drink red wine or vodka and Red Bull). H2g2 changed my life and I'll be forever thankful for meeting dozens of lovely people

fords

Nor would you've been tech support for someone in Crescent City, California, then central Tennessee...

Now, some of the people that responded to the prompt have been gone from h2g2 for a minute², but our next respondant has been well known for at least as long as I've been around...

Without h2g2 I would not be the person I am today. Maybe not even still here due to the real life problems I had back in 2000 when I joined. My journal became my lifeline. I found I could write and people would read. I discovered I could edit other people's work and help them become better writers. I was able to express my love of astronomy in my own column in The Post for over 9 years. I'm so proud my work is in the first h2g2 book. I have shared a lot with my hootoo friends, laughter and tears. I've celebrated and mourned. I have met so many in person and made friendships for life. Some I have yet to meet but they're on my wishlist. I found my Earth twin pailaway and we discovered a mutual love of Elvis: only on h2g2! I will always love h2g2, it changed my life.



P.S. Before I met Linda/Mina I was scared of dogs. But I grew to love hers (met some in person) and now I can be myself with other friends' dogs (no fear). Thank you Xxxx

Galaxy Babe

I guess if we ignore the people I met who are more important than they know they are in my life, I wouldn't have bought a house (thanks to Peta Moxon giving me a job), nor would I have made such a success of my business (due to the h2g2 community and editors helping me learn to write, BBC learning lunches teaching me how to write for the web and Steve Binnie building me a fabulous website FOR FREE so I could use my writing skills to promote my work with dogs).



Steve still looks after my website after over a decade (under a different financial arrangement now of course)

Mina (or Mina as – was)

Without h2g2 I would not have made so many online friends, would probably never have gotten involved with social media, would not have a nagging doubt that I was wrong to put real life ahead of online life, and would not have a sense of dread whenever someone says they are going to lunch.

RadoxTheGreen

Stay tuned for Part 8, where I prove (or not) that I can actually finish a series with more than 3 parts!

Amy Pawloski

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