Airplanes may be the last bastion of limited choices in the world. When I was younger, it was a simple ask: “Chicken or fish?” If you remember Airplane, you should always get the chicken. There’s still not much more to choose from on most airlines, as they shake us down to the last penny for a pretzel crumb and the most miniature bottle of water ever made. Still, there’s something to be said for having limited choices.
I would love a restaurant with two options for a dinner entree. Let’s just streamline the experience. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the diner menu where you can get gnocchi, cheese grits, and a filet all off of page three of seventeen. I don’t have the time or will to read a book before ordering. They can’t make seventeen pages of stuff fresh to order.
At AMC theaters, they have a drink machine that has every drink ever made inside. Even if you choose a brand of iced tea, three options pop up. I made it a point to just remember to get Lemon Peace Tea, so I don’t have to go through more screens before I watch my drink waterfall into my cup. It should be easy, but sometimes the sight of a new option throws you into the world of the unknown.
Dating apps are a prime example. Swipe, swipe, swipe, and you will never run out of profiles to view, especially since the apps put so many fake and inactive ones in there to whet your appetite for non-responsiveness. You pass on someone, and the app feeds them to you again the next day because you might change your mind. Really, they just want you to have unlimited choices. I power through my options in an hour so the game ends.
On every television show where a couple is getting married, they seem to taste dozens of cakes to decide which one is best. They do this after eating cake for years and knowing what their favorite is. Does the process of stuffing small bits of miscellaneous cakes into the pie hole excite people? Just get the coconut cake.
If I need surgery, I don’t want to see a list of eight different ways the surgeon can do it, with prices. Do the one that works best, please and thank you. Just give me what I need to survive. I don’t want to see a menu everywhere I go. It’s why I like getting traditional omakase at nice sushi restaurants. I have no choice about what is coming. I will like it, even if I don’t like it.
© Jonathan Greene, November 1, 2026
