TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO DO

Tell me what you want to do

Those seven words put me into a tail spin a la Rod Serling's Twilight Zone for a long several minutes.

Tell me what you want to do

I'm in my husband's home office, sitting at his desk. He has two 30-inch computer monitors staring, unblinkingly at me. The one on the right is solid blue. The one directly in front of me is set to Microsoft Word. On the tool bar are these words:

Tell me what you want to do

Well, in reply: I DON'T KNOW!
Stop asking!
Stop demanding!
If I knew, I'd bloody well be doing it, now wouldn't I? Who are you, OptiPlex 5060 Dell, to demand this of me?

Right now, I could be reading, planting, sweeping, working, biking, swimming, volunteering, eating, tanning, talking, traveling, birding, shopping, flossing, manicuring. There really are an infinite  number of things I could be doing. But you're not wanting that. You are demanding that I be introspective. Maybe what I really want is to do nothing. Yes, I'm breathing. I have thoughts in my head. I worry about my brother's hip replacement. I pray for my girlfriend's cancer. But I'm kinda happy sitting here, doing nothing.

Nothing

Sitting here, doing nothing. Unless me staring at you, Dell, staring back at me, taunting me with those words constitutes something.

Tell me what you want to do

But in our society, doing nothing is just not an acceptable activity.

Oh, I know there are people out there who can answer that question. Not only can they answer it, they can execute it to perfection. Hell, they'd be happy to answer the question for me.

Sometimes, I think maybe that would just be fine and dandy. Sometimes, I think I'd like decisions made for me. And I mean, even the stupidest shit.

The hostess at the restaurant dazzles with her perfect teeth. "Inside or out?" Not only do I have to decide between what I really want (a fillet and bottomless glass of Malbec) vs. what I’ll probably order-seabass and Perrier-but now I have to decide if I want air conditioning, which could be perfect or set to 60 degrees or balmy night-time air, which could be perfect or full of mosquitos.

Tell me what you want to do

A friend wanted my opinion. She's trying to decide between sand stone or travertine for her front porch. She says she's a terrible decision maker. What?! She has two successful careers simultaneously.  She's beautifully busted walls down in her house. How is she a terrible decision maker?

Are all (or most) of us just geared to second- and third-guess ourselves?

Tell me what you want to do

My husband's friend has secured a spot on one of Richard Branson's space flights sometime this decade. It's pretty safe to say this guy can answer that damn Dell request.

There is a looking-glass icon next to the request of:
Tell me what you want to do

For those of us not sure, we simply can click.
Instructions pop up: Just start typing here to bring features to your fingertips and get help
A second tool bar invites: Type here to search

ME: Dell, can you tell me what I want to do?

No, I didn't think so.

I'll sit here and do nothing until something pops into my head. If it does.