This chapter examines the second of two serious counterarguments from lived experience against the existence of the past: the fact that the present is special because it is the place where we make decisions. It is shown that this issue connects the themes of this book to the question of whether the future is open or not, to the question of free will and to the question whether the present has a special ontological status or not. None of these questions are answered in this book, but it is shown that the existence of the past, as defined in this book, is compatible with both an open and a fixed future, with most definitions of free will and with or without a special ontological status of the present.