It seems like a good idea: options. Maybe even a good enough idea to found a whole country on. Freedom is only freedom if it’s the freedom to choose: a religion, a name, a career.
And now, in 2015, we demand options, customization. Buying a new car, we have our choice of exterior and interior colors, mp3 and bluetooth stereo options. We can have satellite radio with 12 different 80’s stations, news, classic soft rock, classic hard rock, classic country rock, classic folk rock. Jazz. Classic jazz. Big band jazz. The Thelonius Monk station.
So we head out, wanting to break in the new car and hit the highway. Let’s see how she rolls and we’ll take a two hour road trip. We turn on one station, Hits of the 70’s and while we love Olivia Newton John, we begin to get the feeling we are missing something on alt-country of the 90’s. Or maybe there’s a great interview from CBC radio happening right now. We can imagine and have access to all the other options and we picked this?
The truth is, we are happier with limited options. Seven kinds of salad dressing, three kinds of coffee. We make decisions faster and feel better when we do. Instead of giving us a wine list with 64 options from 9 different countries, the waiter says they have a house red or a house white.
We think about the chicken we just ordered. The side of roasted brussel sprouts. It’s November and the cold is starting to get insistent. We haven’t dreamt in days and we are living for the weekends. We make, on average, 35,000 choices a day. What to wear. Whether to shower. Do we stop at the post office before or after work? Do we want to be a little late this morning or stand in line this afternoon?
The red? The white?
Surprise me.
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