Every decision you make, in everyday life, has consequences. Many of these decisions you don’t take much time to think about before you come to a conclusion. For example, you don’t stop to think what the consequences of having decaffeinated coffee instead of regular coffee, or how many sugars you should have in that coffee. I may be the only person in the world to take time, sometimes hours, over decisions such as these. Last week it was the coffee scenario (three hours of thought), yesterday it was whether I should have a shower or a bath (forty-five minutes of pondering) and today I have to go to the gas station to fill up the tank. I hate this.
As I pull up in my light red Saab, I must choose what queue to wait in. Now many people say that no matter what queue you choose, the other one will always move faster. Obviously this is not true, but even if it was, there would need to be an exception to prove the rule. Could this be that exception? Now the queue on the right only has three cars in it, but the one on the left has five. However, with a Bentley and a Mercedes in the right hand queue perhaps the left hand queue would be better. I’ll just wait for a few minutes and then make up my mind.
Okay, a third queue has formed; I didn’t even realize that there was a third pump. Right, I need to make a choice as I am blocking the entrance, and exit as it happens. Okay, the right hand queue it is...I think. The right queue is closer to the road, and therefore I’d be more likely to hit by an out of control car. There is a trucker in the left hand and newly formed queue that looks like he might spark up a cigarette, which is a fire hazard. I’ll just drive up to the middle queue and see where that takes me.
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Card or cash? There is a coffee machine in the corner of the store, but I don’t really want to go down that road again, I look like a big enough idiot already with the queue business. If I pay with cash I’ll need to get money out the bank. Now the chances of me getting robbed in broad daylight re slim, but it could happen. What if the bank machine eats my card and then I can’t pay for the gas at all? I should have taken more time deciding whether or not to bring my cheque book with me.
If I pay with my card the cashier could quite easily steal all my details, I have seen shows on television about how easy it can be done. He’s black too, now I’m not a racist don’t get me wrong, but the statistics don’t work in his favour. I’m going to have to take my chances though, because the bank is too dangerous.
I haven’t always been like this, taking hours to do anything. It happened about three months ago. Three months ago on Tuesday to be exact. I was standing in front of an elderly man in line at a hotdog stand in town, when I noticed a quarter on the ground. My lucky day I thought, and I was right. I bent down to pick it up and let the old man in front of me, which I thought was a nice thing to do. As the man stepped in front of me in the queue and muttered a polite thank you a biker accidentally drove up on the sidewalk and knocked the elderly man down. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and that could have been me if I hadn’t have decided to pick up that measly quarter that made no difference to my life what so ever.
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Right, I need to pay for the gas with my card. That’s simple enough but the tempting treats at the counter could kill me. I’ve learned my lesson from the hotdog situation. Oreos, that’s a strange food to put by the counter. I should ignore them, but I can’t see any harm in buying a packet. So I do. The cashier is looking at me; maybe I should have gone across to the bank machine across the road.
Back in the car and I have a full tank of gas, which is a nice feeling, but now I need to get to work. Do I go on the freeway or do I avoid it? The chances are another big earthquake will hit Los Angles soon. Although...