Too Much Choice

I was happy recently to discover that I am not the only person who finds it difficult to park in an empty car park. I was amazed and relieved that there are other people who, like me, can drive aimlessly around, trying to calculate the optimal place to leave the car. I (and fellow sufferers of “Empty Car Park Syndrome”) usually end up, after a couple of laps, spread over about three spaces, about 100 yards from the ticket machine and 200 yards from the pedestrian exit.

Empty car parks obviously see me coming. I have only received two parking tickets in my life (on consecutive days, by the way) and one of these was in the disabled bay of an otherwise totally deserted car park in Kingston-upon-Thames.

How much better and easier to search around looking for a space and then to demonstrate your incredible reversing skills, whilst trying to avoid shoppers with trolleys.

Being in the shops has much the same effect. Enough has already been written by others about the choices of coffee in (say) Starbucks or different types of filling in a sandwich for the local sandwich bar for me to add anything useful. These choices usually come with the pressure of a queue behind you, forcing a selection, which is normally exactly the same as you had last time.

But what happens when there is no pressure from a queue, for example when strolling down the aisles of toothpaste in the local Sainsbury (or Tesco for that matter). There are usually several people peering at the shelves, either in search of their favourite brand, with specific instructions from their spouse, or just in complete bewilderment. The supermarkets should provide chairs for people to sit on, while they ponder. If the Guinness Book of Records does not have a section for the “Longest Time Spent at the Bread Counter”, then it probably will do soon, and I will be applying to be the first record holder.

On a more positive note, the large number of channels on Satellite Television can have a hugely beneficial effect. Who has not, in a moment of stress (or boredom), aimlessly flicked through the channels on the remote control? I don’t think that the therapeutic benefit of such a mind-numbing exercise has ever been properly evaluated. After 30 minutes of this, all the channels have been reviewed and it is time to start again, with the new programmes.

The Evening Standard used to fulfil this function for me, when I commuted home from London in the evening. It was not necessary to actually read any article. Just to flick the pages over aimlessly, allowing the mind to empty itself of any thoughts of the day’s work just completed. I am told that the Evening Standard still exists. Thank goodness! If it didn’t, then the world would be a poorer place.

Note: Since writing this, I have discovered that the 18th December issue of the “Economist” magazine has an insert on the problems arising from too much consumer choice. This article is very good, but my faithful followers will know that my blog is even better. Any similarities between my blog and the Economist article are entirely coincidental.