There I was in Vegas… with a surly waitress and some crummy little shrimp and… I was as disappointed as a four-year-old staring out the window at the rain. See the “Surly Waitress” incident.
What to do? What to do? sought direction. I called on my two guidance systems.
The Emotional Guidance System said: You are being a brat here. This meal costs twenty-five dollars, you CANNOT just leave an expensive meal. You’re making too much of this! You are too picky. Hundreds of thousands, no, millions of people around the world, are going to bed hungry, and you, you are turning away from an expensive meal of shrimp. There was a time when you and the special person travelled with a steno pad and wrote down every penny spent, staying in ratty motels and able to get lunch for a dollar (loaf of bread and a can of bean dip). What’s happened that you are now such a brat? It’s your fault for ordering seafood in the middle of the desert. These shrimp were flown in over many miles. Think of it, woman. These shrimp have given you their lives!
The Thinking Guidance System said: Okay, probably life would be easier if you were a bit more adaptable, but the FACTS ARE…you can afford to walk this joint and find a cozier place with a happier staff. While there was a time when you would have to do without something else that day if you spent five dollars extra on a meal…but that was then. This is now. You can afford to escape. The reality is, no one but you will be inconvenienced by your changing restaurants. No one.
I decided to split. I asked for a to-go box and packed up the shrimp. (Which I dumped in the trash on my way to the next restaurant, as intended…but I thought taking the shrimp to-go and faking a mild emergency made me look less foolish….Okay, I know…I didn’t say I escaped the waitress from the frowny side of the street and her tiny shrimp without some concessions to my Emotional Guidance System.)
I left the waitress a ten dollar tip and a smile, hoping her day might pick up and headed for the buffet and a really perfect booth where I computed and piddled for hours. (Did you know the buffets in Las Vegas now have all day passes for tourists wanted to have it all and often? I ask you, could this be a good thing?)
The Point: Sometimes you can escape. Remember the people who grew up in the depression and couldn’t spend money in accord with current circumstances? Of course, many people attempt to spend themselves out of anxious situations when they cannot afford the cost … and end up causing all sorts of long-term problems.
An important contribution of the Thinking Guidance System is in avoiding generalizations. The Emotional Guidance System lumps situations together saying, “If you allow yourself to switch restaurants and end up paying for two meals, what’s going to keep you from buying a bunch of timeshares in Tahiti you can’t use?”