I’m
not really known for my polished decision-making skills. Everything sounds good.
I
think I’ll get my bangs cut again. Well, I like eggs, and I like cake, so I'll have both. I’m so tired of this table – out to the curb
it goes. We’ll eat dinner in the living
room for a while. Yes! Let’s pave a large portion of our backyard for a
basketball court!
Do
you remember Forrest Gump? Remember when
Jenny was a hippie and she’s singing on the street for change with some other
hippies and this dude rolls up in a VW bus and asks if any of them would like
to go to San Francisco and she says “I’ll go”?
That’s me. That sounds good. San Francisco sounds like fun.
A
month after my husband and I met, I asked him to come with me to
Europe for an academic conference I would be attending in six months. When he said “sure,” just like Jenny would, I
knew I had met my soul mate. When we
arrived at the hotel, we were shocked to see that the bathroom in our room was in our room - a toilet, sink, and shower stall
not more than ten feet from everything else. No separate bathroom. THE TOILET WAS IN THE BEDROOM.
We
were not at that stage of our
relationship then, but whatevs. Everybody poops. #yolo
It
worked out. We had a lot of laughs on
that trip.
My
snap decision making has gotten me into trouble, especially when I was
younger. Did you know that all four hubcaps of a Chevrolet Caprice Classic will pop off at one time when you land after catching some air? And if you are attending
a rodeo during an Arizona spring, you really should carry more in the pockets of
your cute white cut-offs than a bunch of Skoal Bandits. Namely, sunscreen. But everybody does this stuff when they're young. Well, maybe not the Skoal Bandits.
I
majored in psychology because it sounded good, moved from one state to another and then back again and again and again because it sounded good, got married
because it sounded good, had babies because it sounded good, bought a house in this neighborhood because it sounded
good, bought a Groupon for a Barre class because it sounded good. None of these decisions took a
long time to make, and so far, so good. Except for the Barre class. I haven't actually done it yet.
![]() |
"Hey! Let's let the kids play the goldfish game at a carnival.
It's rigged - they won't win."
|
I
just don’t take a long time to make decisions.
When I’m asked to do something, if my immediate reaction isn’t “No,” I
ask for some time to think before I respond.
That’s so cute. Full disclosure: I don’t think about it. I remember the question days later and either
respond yes or no depending on how I feel about it at that time. Maybe this is how everybody thinks about
things. Or maybe you’re thinking that I’m
kind of a jerk. I hope it’s not that. It’s just that thinking too hard on a subject, mulling over all the possible outcomes and pros and cons - that confuses me. If I stopped to think
about all the ins and outs of every decision, I’d sit in my house and do
nothing, ever.
And
that’s not living.
I will probably continue to make snap decisions. It's how I do the decision-making.
When it really counts, I can force myself to stop and think, or I confer
with close friends or my husband, who has grown a little in this area and who now
has sharper decision-making skills that we both rely on for important things.
But
not all things are important, and we can both live with a snap decision that
may seem weird to the rest of the world.
Like
having a basketball court in our backyard.
*******
I like that you are a snap decision maker.
ReplyDeleteI'm a hem-haw type decision maker. I'll hem and haw, ask for time, analyse the shit out of it, then decide. Then I doubt my decision. I really should live life more.
I guess I just don't like having to think about decisions so much. There's really no way out of that for me - I can see all angles, and any outcome could work. So I bite the bullet and do it quickly to get out of my head. Making decisions is really the only thing I do fast. The thing I am absolutely slowest at is paying with cash. I count it out three times as if I just learned to do money last week.
DeleteI actually did move to San Francisco on a whim once...
ReplyDeleteThat story about the toilet in the room kinda killed me. Hilarious! I would have been mortified.
And my husband..might be a snap decision maker. Or not but he'll do things WITHOUT TELLING ME. Like two weeks ago? The puppy!
And yesterday? He started painting our white front door BLUE.
How was life in San Francisco? I haven't ever been there, it's on my list of things to do.
DeleteYour husband sounds like he knows you pretty well, and the puppy worked out, so why not the blue door? It sounds pretty.
Loved this! You are so funny! I'm a quick decision-maker, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna! I'm not sure if I make them fast because I hate decisions, or because I just don't like taking the time to deliberate.
DeleteYou're cool. I make decisions the exact opposite way, i.e. mulling them over until they don;t even have to be made any more. Oh, I just read Alison's response. That's me, too. Next time I need to make a decision I'll try to just scream out whatever pops into my head and see if I can follow up on that.
ReplyDeleteMy mulling over goes like this: "Should I do that or this?" ::thinks about birds for a minute:: "OK. I'll do this."
DeleteYet another thing we agree on. If I don't say yes right away then it's a no bc I no longer have it in my brain. Snap decisions are the only way to go unless you're talking buying a hermit crab, opening a rescue out of your home in the suburbs (ahem), or purchasing a bigass purple wooden chair that matches nothing but your Pinterest board.
ReplyDeleteWe've had hermit crabs. And goldfish. They were not good decisions for anyone involved. For some, worse than others.
DeleteThe Skoal bandits were definitely not our brightest moment. But maybe a bit brighter than rolling the Honda in an irrigation ditch in Texas. At least now I can blame it on your decision making! And we just moved to Northern California on a whim...so maybe I can't.
ReplyDeleteAHHHH! Proof that these things actually happened! Thanks for being there with me. ;)
DeleteAnytime my dear. Would love to get together some day for some more mature, bad decision making. xo - always
DeleteIt wasn't until I read this that I realized how much I like you, how much I relate to you.
ReplyDeleteI liked you very much before it, but now I feel a kinship that I hope isn't weird
I will normally say sure or Yes to many things without a lot of consideration, knowing I can work that shit out later.. And honestly what's the worst thing that could happen? ;-)
Reading this was like a validation (one I needed) and I'm so glad you are who you are. Xo
Most things do work out. I feel like I hate pressure, but honestly, when I finally have something to work for, it's really what gets me to that goal.
DeleteAnd my thoughts exactly: what is the worst thing that could happen? I fail at something? Come on, world. You've got to do better than that.
I don't think that kinship is weird at all. Thanks for validating my seat-of-my-pants mentality. xo
I love you. That is all. Except that everybody poops. Now that's really all. :D
ReplyDeleteHA! They really do. I don't think I really knew it until that trip. ;)
DeleteAnd thanks for the love. xoxo
Deletethis whole thing just had me laughing and smiling! I tend to do the hey "I'll go" thing too :) love your spirit of adventure. And the goldfish pic? Nope, they'll never win. Never. Wait, what?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah! The goldfish worked out, sort of. I mean, we only had them for a day or two.
DeleteWait, what? :)
I'm a snapper but I married a thinker.
ReplyDeleteHe simply can't pull the trigger on something without a lot of mulling. A lot.
If we need four beach chairs, he will visit Costco twice. Take pictures of the choices. Ask me if they are okay. I say 'sure' so he goes back and buys two chairs even though we need four because he wants to make sure that these are THE RIGHT CHAIRS once he gets them home.
(Can you imagine anything more awful than buying four of the wrong Tommy Bahama chairs? You can? Right. Because you're smart.)
Anyway.
Two months later, when he goes back for the second pair of chairs, they are all sold out.
And the store clerks have put out their Christmas decorations. So Bill will get one strand of light-up garland because GOD FORBID HE GETS IT HOME AND IT'S THE WRONG GARLAND.
My son is so lucky we got knocked up by accident...or...well....
Ha Julie! This sounds like how my husband is sometimes.
DeleteHe can make snap decisions (see basketball court above) but he will talk about buying something to death. He's been talking about how he wants a larger TV in our family room for FOUR YEARS.
I have one of those Tommy Bahama chairs and they are the bomb. He shouldn't have waited.
I moved to Europe on a snap decision and lived there for 2 years. Snap decisions make me feel alive! It doesn't make you crazy or a jerk. So long as most of them turn out well, I say keep doing it! Don't mess with a system that obviously is working for you!
ReplyDeleteIt's what I tell myself - why do things differently if they work? And if the decisions don't work, it's kind of fun to see how to make the most of them.
DeleteI'm an impulse buyer for sure. The people who decided to put stuff by the checkouts at stores got my number! Big decisions, well, those I have a little more trouble with and I probably think about them too much. Love that basketball court!
ReplyDeleteI am also an impulse buyer. I can't help it - I need another one of those egg-shaped lip balms! And the checkout candy bar - who can resist?
DeleteI love that you make decisions this way. I'm the exact opposite. I like to mull things over. And over. And over. And over. When I find a shirt I like in a store I never buy it right away. I go back and visit it - sometimes many times - before deciding whether or not I really need it. It's always gone by the time I go back, by the way, so WHEW! I didn't actually have to decide. making decisions is hard. I don't like it.
ReplyDeleteThe few times I've missed something like the shirt that was gone when you went back for it, I stewed over that lost opportunity for days. I don't like to feel like I'm missing out. Although I've had plenty of shirts that I've worn once and given to the thrift store, so...
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