When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. – P.J. O'Rourke
We've all experienced this, but I didn't give it much thought until now. We are constantly bombarded with selling propositions, and we've kind of taken them for granted as one of the necessary evils of a market based society. But, there is a toll. Let me share a recent example. This week I went to a fast food restaurant. I knew what I wanted, and drove up to the window to place my order.
order gal: Would you like to try our taco sald?
me: No, thanks; I'd like a double thickburger with cheese, pickle, mustard, and onion. Diet Coke. That's all.
order gal: Do you want a combo?
me: "No."
order gal: What do you want on the sandwich?
me: (thinking: how did she miss this the first time?) "uh, that would be cheese pickle mustard and onion."
order gal: and did you want fries?
me: (thinking: didn't I just say no to the fries?) "No, no fries."
order gal: anything else?
me: (thinking: I believe I said that's all sometime back there) "No."
order gal: So that's one double thickburger, hold the mayo, lettuce, and tomato, and a diet coke, right?
me: (thinking: is holding the lettuce mayo and tomato the same thing as putting cheese pickle mustard and onion on it? I could only hope) "I guess so."
As I drove up to the second window, I realized that this operator had forced me to say no at least 3 times (most of these directly attributable to her training), and read back an order that required intimate familiarity with the standard sandwich to resolve. Frankly my appetite was not at all the same by the time I completed this transaction. Why would an organization force me to repeatedly and specifically decline what I do not want in the process of getting what I do want? All these no's have a tendency to put the transaction in negative terms, so that by the time I'm done, I feel like I've just conducted a salary review.
All I wanted was a sandwich. And a Diet Coke.
Now the relevance (this is a political blog, after all). All I want is a limited government. So, when George Bush says he wants to put more tax dollars into math and science education, I think: it isn't the governments job to spend my money. So that's a rock on the negative side of the scale. Enough of those little rocks can ruin a saner man's day. No wonder politics riles so many folks.
If I wasn't an optimist by nature, I don't know how I'd get through the day at all.
