Shannon Costello

I notice that I have a fair amount of trouble making decisions in public places.

Recently I was with a friend at the Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV had made a clerical error that ultimately resulted in a license suspension. You can imagine the hassle clearing up such a problem entails.

Once we were told in person that the error had been corrected, the question was whether or not we should go to yet another part of the building and pay for a copy of her driving record. I had to actually sit down and talk it through out loud before I could express a rational opinion.

That sounds easy, but it isn’t natural in a public place to stop moving, sit down, and reason in a public, fast-paced environment.

Perhaps this is why impulse buying is a problem. Shopping means that you are bombarded with image after enticing image, even in grocery stores. The effect is somewhat intoxicating.