Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Coin Toss (abridged)

A revised excerpt from my website (sorry for the repetition if you've seen it)...but it fit the format here, so thought I'd air it for the "public."

[While I was at Arby's last week, standing around in a state of Indecision Paralysis, on what I wanted for lunch] an elderly man walked up next to me. He looked at the menu board for a second, then stood back, and flipped a coin, caught it, turned it, checked it, and placed his order.

I can't help but contemplate: How many daily decisions does this guy make by tossing a coin?

What would it be like, to live your life based on heads or tails? Could I do that? Could I commit? Would it simplify my life? Heads: Its jeans today, Tails a skirt.

Skirts it is! Brilliant! What a time saver!

But wait.

I have 12 skirts. I'd need a comprehensive trickle-down hierarchy, to eliminate 10 of them and establish come to a Final 2. Maybe I could use leftover sheets from the Big 10 basketball tournaments, to come to a Final 2: Purple skirt gets the No. 1 seed over the denim.
Next, the blouse. The shoes. The earrings. I am bogged down with paperwork before I even get dressed.

And what if the Bra Draw has me heading out the door wearing the polka-dotted black bra under the baby-blue t-top? Can I argue with The Almighty Coin?

I would most certainly complicate this Coin Toss Simplification System...I would over-analyze and argue, and make a lot of noise and talk about it behind it's back, that cursed coin. I'd be insolent and pouty because I hate to be told what to do.

Even in the face of insecurity, exhaustion, frustration, or whatever else might come along to make me act wishy-washy and indecisive about decisions large or small, when it comes down to brass tacks, I know what I want.

We all do.

8 comments:

  1. This is great!! The idea of using the Big 10 tournament sheets cracked me up!!

    Mike knows this guy that wears black everyday. So, it never mattered what shirt he wore with which pants, etc. Kind of a crazy "uniform" type thing but it would sure make life easier.

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  2. Anonymous2:23 PM

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  3. Was it Einstein who had 7 identical suits, one for each day of the week?

    I'm more of a close-my-eyes-and-pick girl.

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  5. Anonymous2:54 PM

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  6. Anonymous3:03 PM

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  7. Momo:

    Well, my neighbors are probably convinced that I own only one outfit; I'm always working in the yard in the same shorts & t-shirt...but then, I suspect that's not the *only* misunderstanding the neighbors have, I hear. At least one of them thinks I live with a guy much younger than myself.

    While that's actually true, we gleefully neglect to fill said neighbor in to the fact that that guy is my son.

    Sparkling: Close ur eyes and pick...that works for me to; I have nothing that matches anything else. Does that work at Arby's too?

    Random Guy: A vague understanding of binary numbers here--10 types of people in the world, and all that jazz, right? Thanks for commenting!!!

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  8. I've found this works in revealing my heart's desire: heads for jeans, tails for skirt. Coin comes up tails. Damn it! I guess I really wanted to wear jeans.

    So do you have to stick with the coin's decision, or is it more a general guideline kind of thing?

    What if you have to get into the "two out of three" rule?

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