A
long, long time ago, back in the day, before GPS, before Google maps and Waves,
when people would get in a car and drive from one place to the other, they
would listen to traffic reports and decide what roads to take based on hearsay
and reasonably blind faith.
De
and I would set out in our car from Long Island and head to NJ to visit my
parents with our children joyfully coexisting in the back seat. And as we were driving north on the
Cross Island, the inevitable question would be raised.
Do
we take the Throgs Neck to the Cross Bronx or the Triborough to the Harlem
River Drive?
I
would pose the question to De and, over time, she learned not to answer. Because if she answered and then we got
stuck in traffic, while I didn’t mean to blame her, my affect and tone of voice
would suggest otherwise.
I
want to spend some time reflecting on how we make decisions. Indeed it is easier now than it was 15
years ago to figure out what roads to take from point A to point B in the
literal realm, but metaphorically it’s another story.
Many
of the decisions we are called upon to make, large and small, economic and
emotional, remain quite challenging.
Do
we pursue this career or that career?
Do we take the job offer at the startup company or the established
company?
Do
we join this synagogue or that synagogue or no synagogue at all?
Do
we commit to the person we’re dating or not?
Do
we seek this treatment or that treatment for a particular illness?
