Too many choices, too exhausting

I read something recently that proposed an interesting conundrum (and gave me an excuse to use “conundrum,” which is one of my favorite words): We humans love choices, but we hate making decisions.

There is no question I agree with the latter part of that statement.

After all, I have spent my entire life surrounded by people who would rather keel over from hunger than agree on a restaurant.

“I don’t care. Where do YOU want to eat?”

“Whatever you want is fine with me.”

“You decide. I picked last time.” (Always a lie.)

So, yes, I am completely onboard with the “hate making decisions” part of that statement.

But do we really love having choices?

To a degree, maybe, but somewhere along the way, we seem to have flung ourselves off the deep end.

I’ll bet my grandparents bought coffee, for example, without having to even think about it. They may have had no choices. They were probably delighted to have coffee at all.

When I was a kid, I know there were already a number of brands on the market, but we always used only one brand. I remember no choice other than regular or decaffeinated. At our house, the choice was regular. Period.

I still buy coffee from that same brand today. I just peeked on their website and here’s what they currently offer:

• Eighteen varieties of ground coffee packed in canisters

• Five styles sold in bags

• Ten flavors in those tiny plastic cups used by people who have invested in one of those machines that I’m not gonna name here but you probably know what I mean

• Six kinds of instant

• Six alternatives packed as “bricks,” vacuum-sealed packages which (based on my experience with similar products) must be opened with surgical precision or they explode and completely trash your kitchen. Seriously, trust me on this.

• And finally, seven options for “single servings,” the coffee equivalent of tea bags.

That’s 52-count ’em, 52 — possible ways to consume what is only one of the dozens (hundreds … thousands?) of brands of coffee on the market today.

It’s mind-boggling. It’s overwhelming. It’s exhausting.

I could use a cup of coffee.

Oh, wait.

Betty Williamson thinks three is an excellent number of choices. Or possibly two. Reach her at:

[email protected]