The Devil Wears Plaid: 4 Steps to Outsmart Life's Tricky Choices

Life sometimes feels like a trip to the worst kind of used car lot—complete with high-pressure sales tactics, questionable options, and that lingering feeling of settling. 

Picture it: it’s the summer of 2021. Cars are in short supply everywhere, and here you are needing a new set of wheels. You’ve done all your homework, tracked down a car online that’s exactly what you want. You head to the dealership, feeling like you’ve got this whole car-buying thing under control, and… they don’t have it. Not even close.

They don’t have the one you wanted or your runners-up.

Of course, the salesman has a couple of “close enough” models he’s eager to get you behind the wheel of. He’s pushy, persistent, and paints his limited options as “the best deals you’re going to get in town” because of the shortage. 

You test-drive two of them, and deep down, you know neither is what you really want. But with that hard sell, that sense of urgency, and the lack of options, you end up picking the least-worst choice and signing on the dotted line. 

Fast-forward a week, and the initial luster has worn off as all the hidden squeaks and groans emerge, pointing to a choice you wouldn’t have made if you’d had more options—or maybe more time to think.