Choice

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expand its floor space) can be an exercise in angst and frustration as you sift
through the many variations available in every conceivable item. Should you
buy this version of raspberry jam because it’s an Australian brand? Or
is it just packaged here while the fruit is actually from Korea? Or is some
of the fruit from Korea and some of it local? Or should you buy the Polish jam
in a spirit of solidarity with the downtrodden Polish peasants working endless
shifts in the grimy Gdansk shipyards? Should you buy the Iranian figs and thereby
show your support for the Iranians’ right to go nuclear? Or should you
simply use price as your guide and to hell with the politics?
If just going to do the grocery shopping has become a fraught exercise, try
buying clothes, or even worse, a piece of electronic equipment, like a TV or
DVD player. Don’t even start me on eBay.
It’s of no surprise there are enterprising people out there who make money
helping those utterly bewildered with this excess of choice, just as there are
others who help poor, indecisive sods get rid of stuff they don’t need.
(Hold on, that’s me!)
Apart from anything else, this constant decision-making is a waste of time,
and in fact, it ultimately inhibits the act of consumerism i.e. purchasing
things. If there’s too much choice, often the response is to sigh resignedly
and walk away. I foresee a reversal in this rampant commodity pluralism when
the figures are reviewed.
This gives me hope. The same Camberwell supermarket has recently relented on
being totally cosmopolitan in another respect. It used to be open 24/7. (I hate
that expression, but you know what I mean). Just a few weeks ago it decided
to close its doors every night at 10.00. There are no protests that I’m
aware of. In fact, I suspect some of us are actually a little bit pleased..