Multiple choice tests drive me crazy. I know, some of you love them, but I don't. Oh sure, I can easily whittle the four choices down to two, but after that, I almost always choose the wrong answer.
My high school Physics teacher used to counsel the class saying, "When in doubt, choose the longest answer". I think he was simply having pity on me. I worked hard in class. I tried, but I was pitiful when it came to Physics. I used to beg (literally, on the bottom of every test) to pass, writing, "Please sir, I want to go to university. Please let me pass this test!", and he would write back, "Ok" and give me one mark above failure...every time. It was bad enough that I couldn't understand the work. When I had a 50/50 chance at a multiple choice question, I blew it, over and over again.
Which is why, I've decided, I'll never win the lottery. I think even if I let the computer choose my numbers, it will pick the wrong ones.
Here is a caveat for all of you who see me in the cashier line at the grocery store: do not stand behind me. I always choose the wrong line. For some reason, the person in front of me has an item which needs a price check, or the cashier's tape runs out just as my order needs to be processed, or the bundle of cash has to be sent up that magic money vaccuum machine (I love that thing).
When it comes to ordering in a good restaurant, I usually let the waiter make the ultimate choice. As in my multiple choice quizzes, I whittle my desires down to two, and then I ask my server which of my final choices of entrees he or she would choose. I must say that the tactic works; I'm rarely if ever disappointed.
The more I think about choice, the more it confouds me. It's amazing how the very thing that makes us free, can enslave us. We are allowed to choose, but what if we choose the wrong thing? How do we deal with making the wrong choice, be it answer (c) instead of answer (d), the wrong line at the supermarket, or even choosing the wrong person to share your life?
Let's Make a Deal was an iconic TV game show that capitalized on the dilemma of choice (fine, it was about greed, but humour me, please). A contestant would be 'randomly' chosen by the great emcee, Monty Hall. If the contestant could pull a hard boiled egg out of her purse, or knew his driver's license serial number off by heart, he would win a washer or dryer, a trip somewhere, or a piano. He would then have to decide whether or not to trade the whatever it was for the unknown something that would be lurking behind Door Number 1, 2 or 3. The choice would have to be made...keep the prize, or relinquish it for the possibility of something greater. Most of the time, that new appliance or lovely trip was forfeited. Monty would then give his command. Sometimes when the door opened, the lovely Carol Merrill would be standing next to a new car. Other times, the wrong choice meant that the sad sot would be leaving the studio hitching a matronly looking milking cow up to his car.
We're all familiar with a variation of the popular maxim, 'when life closes a door, somewhere a window is opened'. We use this phrase to allow people who are feeling powerless that new opportunities, and new opportunities for choice are possible and possibly imminent. At the same time, we caution university students not to 'close doors', because their choices will become limited. Keep the options open as long as you can, counsel parents and school advisors.
Coming to terms with the doors we've closed allows us to open new doors wider. During our lifetime, we no doubt walk through doors which bring us metaphorical brand new cars. Other times, it seems like Carol Merrill is in her overalls, pigtails and painted-on freckles, dealing us a milking cow. Our task is to try to understand what leads us to make the decisions we do, so that when that new door opens, we'll be thrilled by what's behind it and not disappointed.
As I get older, I try to laugh when I realize I've chosen the wrong line at the supermarket yet again. I've decided to embrace the familiar. I take the opportunity to chat with the frustrated person in front of me. I warn the person behind me never to stand behind me in a line again because the curse follows me.
Sure, I might have chosen a better line at the grocery store, but it's nice having the chance to chat with the people around me in line every once in a while. Choosing those wrong answers on my tests forced me to get help from my classmates, which strenthened friendships. And I almost always get the best dessert in the restaurant. You know what? Door Number 3 is not such a bad choice after all!
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