What’s it going to be?

The father in front of me look frazzled and was losing his patience. He had given his son a choice of Matchbox cars to buy for a birthday present for a friend. It was almost time to put the toy on the grocery store cash register. “Which is it going to be Max? The red one or the blue one? We need to make a decision now.”

Poor little Max couldn’t decide. He kept looking back and forth at the two cars. It didn’t help that the cashier was working quickly and the woman front of Max and his father would soon be finishing up her order.

I had stopped at the grocery store to pick up milk and bread and a few other miscellaneous items before heading home and was tired. I have to admit that I wanted little Maxie to get a move on. I didn’t want to spend any more time in the grocery store than necessary, but a small part of me felt bad for him too. I could understand why it would be a challenging decision.

When I looked down at him, I could see the wheels in Max’s head weighing the situation. The dark red one had shiny duel carburetors sticking out of the hood and the blue one had thick rugged wheels that looked like they would tear up the road. Either choice would be a good one.

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Decision-making can be challenging in the best of circumstances. Throw in his heated father losing his patience and the need to make a decision in the here and now and Max was under some pressure. Red? Blue? Which was it going to be?

We make decisions by identifying a need or problem, gathering relevant information, exploring potential options, evaluating their pros and cons, and ultimately choosing the course of action that best aligns with our values and goals. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about my own decision making skills since I went to the drugstore this week for cold and cough medicine. The choices in front of me were endless. You can read more about my experience in my story, I’ll take the red one, on the Heart of the Matter.

But I like both of them

My decision making in picking out the best medicine and Max’s decision on which car to choose weren’t all that different. We were both overwhelmed with the choices. I liked the cough medicine in my right hand, but I was frustrated that nothing seemed to be working. I didn’t want to be wrong, so naturally I considered the medicine in my other hand too. Oh, I’m sure I put more thought into my decision. However, I felt the same stress that Max felt.

In the end, I embraced the imperfections. I accepted that there was no right choice, that I would have to make the best choice in the moment. As Max went back and forth, I looked at the two cars to see which I would choose. Globally blue is consistently reported as the most popular color in surveys and studies in the world. That’s the one I would go with.

Right on time, little Max chose the blue one too. You go Max.

Related story:

• I’ll take the red one on the Heart of the Matter
• 500 choices and nothing appealing
• When life brings hard choices!
• Decisions! Decisions!
• Everybody’s talking, nobody’s listening