Choices
Emanuela Sabau
Dr. Geri Harmon
English 1101
12/07/2010
Choices
Our lives are full of choices, from the moment our eyes open in the morning to when they close at night. We make choices every day. Some are considerably easy and we don’t even pay attention to them, while others are at times complicated. Some of the choices we have to make in life are easier than others. One of the relatively easier ones is what clothes to wear every day. Selecting what to wear each day can be a horrific, time-consuming process for males and females alike. While some people may find this easy enough and they might just grab and put on the first thing to reach their hand, some people take time getting dressed making sure every little detail is in place. Did you know that women spend around one year of their lives deciding what to wear? I myself try on at least two outfits before I leave the house. Like Thomas Beller wrote in his essay “The Problem with T-Shirts”, he chose to wear a very old T-shirt that he had grown accustomed to, which got ruined during a party. Being very attached to the T-shirt he chose to keep it like it was, ripped, for another year or so until he finally decided to throw it out (54). I think we have all, at one time or another had that one piece of clothing that we just chose to keep instead of throwing out. The problem is we have too many choices. Where at one time cars, telephones, and Oreos all came in one color selection, now we have, well, 45,000 choices. For example, once upon a time there was mayonnaise. You had to choose which brand you liked, but that was it. Now there’s regular, light, fat-free, canola, with lime juice, and with mustard (three kinds of mustard no less). It won’t be long before you can take home a jar of soy decaf shade grown fair trade dolphin-free mayonnaise. Then all you’ll need to do is decide whether you want a small jar, medium jar, large jar, or popcorn tub size. It makes ketchup sound better all the time. Then there
Dr. Geri Harmon
English 1101
12/07/2010
Choices
Our lives are full of choices, from the moment our eyes open in the morning to when they close at night. We make choices every day. Some are considerably easy and we don’t even pay attention to them, while others are at times complicated. Some of the choices we have to make in life are easier than others. One of the relatively easier ones is what clothes to wear every day. Selecting what to wear each day can be a horrific, time-consuming process for males and females alike. While some people may find this easy enough and they might just grab and put on the first thing to reach their hand, some people take time getting dressed making sure every little detail is in place. Did you know that women spend around one year of their lives deciding what to wear? I myself try on at least two outfits before I leave the house. Like Thomas Beller wrote in his essay “The Problem with T-Shirts”, he chose to wear a very old T-shirt that he had grown accustomed to, which got ruined during a party. Being very attached to the T-shirt he chose to keep it like it was, ripped, for another year or so until he finally decided to throw it out (54). I think we have all, at one time or another had that one piece of clothing that we just chose to keep instead of throwing out. The problem is we have too many choices. Where at one time cars, telephones, and Oreos all came in one color selection, now we have, well, 45,000 choices. For example, once upon a time there was mayonnaise. You had to choose which brand you liked, but that was it. Now there’s regular, light, fat-free, canola, with lime juice, and with mustard (three kinds of mustard no less). It won’t be long before you can take home a jar of soy decaf shade grown fair trade dolphin-free mayonnaise. Then all you’ll need to do is decide whether you want a small jar, medium jar, large jar, or popcorn tub size. It makes ketchup sound better all the time. Then there
Cited: Beller, Thomas. “The Problem with T-Shirts.” The Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 6th ed. Ed. Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan. Boston: Bedford, 2009. 53-56. Print. Paglia, Camille. “The Pitfall of Plastic Surgery.” The Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 6th ed. Ed. Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan. Boston: Bedford, 2009. 791-794 Print. Sandel, J. Michael. “The Case Against Perfection.” The Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 6th ed. Ed. Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan. Boston: Bedford, 2009. 811-827 Print. Schwartz, Barry. “The Tyranny of Choice.” The Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 6th ed. Ed. Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan. Boston: Bedford, 2009. 834-842 Print. Singer, Peter. “The Singer Solution to World Poverty.” The Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 6th ed. Ed. Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan. Boston: Bedford, 2009. 849-857 Print. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. “Trading Up: Where Do Baby Names Come From?” The Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 6th ed. Ed. Donald McQuade and Robert Atwan. Boston: Bedford, 2009. 756-760. Print.