I hate choosing shampoo. Or toilet paper or rice or jeans. I’ll even wear the same crusty boots into the ground because I can’t stand the idea of picking out new ones. The thought of making decisions truly immobilizes me. And with more and more to choose from every day, capitalism is causing me to panic at the grocery store.
This Pantene says it’s for normal hair, but mine is not really that normal. It’s more dry, but Suave for dry hair is too cheap to actually work and the bottle is pink. I hate pink. The Aussie shampoo smells good, but I don’t want to buy it because they’ll think their advertising is working and then they’ll make more of those horrible commercials that make me want to kill every kangaroo and hate every Australian. I should actually just stick to natural formulas. I’m gonna go Burt’s Bees. No, wait. I’m not paying thirteen dollars for that tiny tube of shampoo. Actually, I don’t even need to wash my hair. Forget it.
The same thing happens with cars and apartments and men. Sometimes I choose out of exhaustion, sometimes I talk myself into the wrong thing, and sometimes I just close my eyes and pick, which has gotten me into some really damaging relationships. There’s a constant pros/cons list writing itself in my head along with a looming fear that I’ll miss out if I make a bad choice. If I go with the veggie omelet, I’ll forgo the french toast and the french toast might be better. If I choose Luigi from Chicago, then I’ll miss out when Javier from Buenos Aires comes along, and everyone knows he‘ll be better.
And then there’s that whole job dilemma. In the sixties, women’s career choices were limited: Teacher, Nurse, or Secretary. Now, I could give manicures to dead people or bathe apes or run for president (ok, vice). Is it really that great that we have so many choices? Everyone I know seems to be wondering what to do with their lives.
This topic interested me so much that I bought a book on it: The Paradox of Choice.
I couldn’t wait to read it, but I put it on my shelf while I finished another. And that was five books ago. I still haven’t read it. And that’s because every time I saddle up to my bookshelf to pick out my next read, there are so many books from which to choose.
I bet there are some really good insights in that book about how certain things are overlooked when there are too many options.