So you think choice is good just because the advertising agencies, the manufacturers and
the marketers, think that more is better? They have created more choice over these past
years to a point where I’m confused even when I’m about to buy a litre of milk! And it is
getting worse! Can someone please start a campaign to reduce choice?
I love my coffee but these days it’s an ordeal to even order a single cup. What size cup?
Sugar? Have here or takeaway? Latte? Skinny? Flat white or dead flat white? When you
finally reach the cash register some people are so confused they can’t remember how to
use their cards. Then there are more questions, cash out? Credit or savings? And the
queue gets longer. I would like to buy more patience but I’m uncertain where the queue is to get it.
Try to buy a golf ball these days and see how much fun you’ll have in selecting. I start getting anxiety attacks just looking at the colours available! There’s
lime and green and yellow and pink and hot pink. It is hard to believe but they still have white balls which is a miracle. Then you have to choose hi-spin or low spin,
distance or control, hard cover or soft. You can even have belata, whatever that is. You can buy one ball or three pack or 12 and of course there are recycled balls
as well. Then, to make your day complete, the happy golfer has a choice of no less than twenty
And don’t you love it when a group of friends get together for dinner and a wine list is
offered while we are all choosing entrees and main courses. Lo’ and behold the wine list
has 160 styles and there is a detailed description of each. By the time you have scanned
half of the list the restaurant is ready to close for the night! Or even more fun for everyone
when an agreement is finally made, you place the order only to be told it’s out of stock at
the moment. Isn’t it about time we demanded wine lists with a maximum of twenty labels. If
you are not hung up on choice yet you will be soon because it is getting worse. Some
supermarkets are stocking over 65,000 different products. I’ll have to see a doctor if they
keep making me choose. Have a look at the range of bread on offer! You’ll be there for
forty minutes trying to locate your current favourite before you then wander off to the milk
section where there is thirty eight choices all available in five sizes!
How many kinds of deodorant and how many sizes do we need? Isn’t two of each
enough? Thirty kinds of toothpaste? Then checkout the shampoo and conditioners and
when you go back again in three months to purchase the one you were so happy with last
time, you find it is no longer stocked so you are forced to select another brand. Isn’t it fun?
manufacturers. Even international tyre manufacturers are producing golf balls. My anxiety
is getting worse just thinking about it.
Last year a Harvard lecturer released a book titled “Choosing not to choose”. He beat me to
it but now I’m glad he did because he has received heavy criticism. Obviously we have to
be able to choose or not to choose but surely we don’t have to choose carefully all day
long. How many types of toilet paper do we need? How many types of muesli or oats or
corn flakes and then you have to choose small, large or jumbo. And on it goes.
When I finally get through with the nightmare of choosing the weekly shopping and I relax in
front of the television there is a choice of one hundred channels. Oris that two hundred? Or more. Spare me, please. Has anyone ever looked at them? There is no escape from
choice!
The television stations relentlessly offer us a choice of Banks with their clever loans andnext there is a choice of petrol or superannuation or lipstick or
shampoo brands. How many phone companies are there? Options overload is totally overboard and I’ve had enough. I’m choosing not to choose. When there is too much choice in front of me Inow walk away. When the time comes for me to buy a new car I’ll certainly not choose one from a television or magazine advertisement. I’ll go to two or three showrooms and test drive and then (reluctantly) make a decision. Then of course they will produce a range of options for you to ponder! Oh happy days! Or is that happy daze. Sunroof, tinted windows, leather or vinyl seats, petrol or diesel, auto or manual and finally “which colour
do you prefer?” There was a wonderful time a few years ago when you had a choice of
black or grey or white or perhaps even pale green but now there is at least twenty colours
to consider in different types of paints.
So it is time we all made a decision about our purchasing. If the choice you are about to
make is too big or too confusing or too complicated just walk away. It’s that easy! Choose
not to choose and you’ll keep your sanity and your health. And the queues will be much
smaller. You’ll even have more time to think about how to avoid more choices.
John A Wilson, October 2017
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