Decision Fatigue: Too Many Choices

When a friend mentioned eating at a restaurant in Amarillo that had only 5 choices for entrées on the menu, his comments reminded me of the movie Hell or High Water (2016).

The phrase "come hell or high water" typically means "do whatever needs to be done, no matter the circumstances." It also refers to the "hell or high water clause" in a contract, usually a lease, which states that the payments must continue regardless of any difficulties the paying party may encounter. Both definitions apply to different parts of the plot in this movie. 
     The first two bank robberies take place in Archer City and Olney, Texas. These were towns used in the filming of The Last Picture Show (1971), which also starred Jeff Bridges. (Source: IMDB)

A Menu with Only One Choice

In Hell or High Water, a Texas Ranger played by Jeff Bridges pursues bank robbers played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster through territory familiar to me. Small towns in West Texas look much alike until you “sit a spell,” perhaps spend a night or two, drink a glass of unsweet tea, or eat in a local cafe.

In this movie, a crusty waitress steals a scene when Bridges and his law enforcement partner sit down to order a meal.

“What is it you don’t want?” she asks. Her Texas drawl and no-nonsense question register blank faces on the two customers. She then rattles off what’s on the one and only plate served and repeats, “What is it you don’t want?”

Amazon and the mountain of choices to choose from

Amazon asks consumers the same question. “What is it you don’t want?”

I read that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos originally named his company Cadabra, but a lawyer misunderstood and wrote Cadaver. Ironic, since we may all eventually be buried under a mountain of choices. Bezos then consulted the dictionary and settled on the name Amazon both for it’s meaning and because the name would appear near the top of any alphabetized list. I suppose he could have gone back and added the Abra to Cadabra, forecasting how quick items ordered would appear.

Today, Amazon reigns at the top of that mountain of cultural consumerism. And Jeff Bezos is one of the richest men in the world. Or, at least he was before his divorce.

Amazon continues to make home delivery, not faster than the speed of light, but close enough.

The 2020 pandemic accelerated and changed the way we shop.

Who then could have foreseen that shoppers in grocery stores would actually be employees of the store? Employees fill orders for online shoppers who then pick up what they order at a designated time. And I, the old school shopper, wend my way down aisles to avoid the traffic jam.

The Disappearance of Small Town America

Big Lots and Big Box stores and the Internet track with the shrinking population in small town America.

Here’s a scene excerpt from Hell or High Water:

Alberto Parker (character played by actor Gil Birmingham, who currently plays Thomas Rainwater on the series Yellowstone): Do you want to live here? Got an old hardware store that charges twice what Home Depot does, one restaurant with a rattlesnake for a waitress. I mean, how's someone supposed to make a living here? 
Marcus Hamilton(character played by Jeff Bridges): People have made a living here for 150 years. 
Alberto Parker: Well, people lived in caves for 150 thousand years, they don't do it no more. 
Marcus Hamilton: Ahhhh, well maybe your people did. 
Alberto Parker: Your people did too. A long time ago, your ancestors was the Indians until someone came along and killed them. Broke 'em down made you into one of them. 150 years ago, all this was my ancestors land. Everything you could see, everything you saw yesterday. Until the grandparents of these folks took it. Now it's been taken from them. 'Cept it ain't no army doin' it, it's those sons of bitches right there. (points at Texas Midland Bank). 

Well, that’s one way to look at it. But history has a way of being abbreviated and edited by whoever tells the story.

Hell or High Water was written by Taylor Sheridan, creator and writer of the current television series, Yellowstone. Who knew?

My husband and I spent a couple of days in Archer City where Larry McMurtry grew up. Back when McMurtry held his “Last Book Sale” in August 2012, this event marked the closing of three of his four bookstores in Archer City. While I did not approach Larry to meet him, I did take a picture of him engaged in relaxed conversation with a few people.

When I lived in Pampa, I took wedding reception pictures at the Hobart House. Dwight Hobart and Larry McMurtry were schoolmates. I spent time before the reception in Dwight’s library, reading the ascriptions from McMurtry in every book he’d written and given to Dwight. Many of the names in McMurtry’s novels came from people and places known to me, embellished stories from the author’s fertile imagination. Set in the rugged territory of Texas in the 1870’s, all the way to Montana, McMurtry’s seminal work Lonesome Dove provided inspiration for writer Taylor Sheridan.

Books and Booksellers

The book writing and selling goes on and on and on.

Originally, Jeff Bezos intended for Amazon to become the largest bookseller, which it is.

But Amazon became so much more as the demand for goods increased and the supply chain to smaller sellers in small towns reflected increased prices. Today, the giant retailer offers more choices than even conceivable say, twenty years ago.

And now, I have to decide what to fix for supper.