The tyranny of multiple choices

As we had dinner with visiting friends last night, one big decision came about where to ski in the next following days. It’s true that Utah is blessed with many great ski resorts. A few names were tossed around: Park City, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Alta, Snowbird and even Snowbasin, all located within one to sixty minutes drive. After much debate, a decision was made to the satisfaction of some and the dismay of others. This plethora of choices illustrates too well what might be wrong with our society of plenty. Go pick a movie, a musical selection, a bottle of wine or a meal from a restaurant menu, and each time, too many choices make the process a real torture. When I was a kid, scarcity of options made life simple and I would argue, a lot less schizophrenic. Today, most people fall prey to never-ending temptations and always would “like to have their cake and eat it too.” This overabundance paralyzes our decision-process and often is counterproductive, if not obscene, considering the abject poverty in which some folks live in. Will the current severe recession shrink that dizzying array of choices? I wish, but frankly doubt it…