one look

My software always shows me the FID when I open a new spectrum. Then I transform it. Some people find this ritual annoying and prefer to see the transformed spectrum directly, because all the FIDs look the same. Sometimes it happens, however, that a FID looks different:
It merely means that something wrong happened during the acquisition. No matter what went wrong, no matter why this particular FID looks different. It is enough to recognize that it is very unusual.
Having a look at the FID is not a waste of time. Processing this particular FID and trying in all ways to compensate for its defects can potentially be a waste of time.
My software always shows me the FID because I want it so.