It came about earlier, during the morning.
Now, sitting on a park bench, half watching joggers doing the circuit, he worked the thing mentally. He was good at this. The whole idea of decision making, the way different people go about it and how much time a person might be willing to take in order to come to a resolution they are happy with, had always fascinated him. He considered that the variables involved in this particular mental activity were probably beyond measure. He began thinking about all the great decisions that had been made throughout history. What compelled Nelson to put his telescope up to his blind eye and decide that he didn’t see the signal to withdraw from a naval engagement?
A flashback to the morning, first thing, in the corner shop, buying bread.
Anyway, just think about it… Truman’s decision to drop the A-bomb, Martin Luther King’s decision to tell everybody that he had a dream, Henry Ford’s decision to double his workers’ wages overnight, Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s decision to ditch the plane in the Hudson River, Hitler’s decision to attack the Soviet Union, Julius Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon, and Gandhi’s decision to prevail against the British Empire without bloodshed.
Yet another flash back, seeing the array of coloured pens on the counter, he needed one, but not now, not then, other things needed his attention.
How about Buddy Holly’s last minute decision to take the plane trip, Boris Yeltsin’s decision to embrace a new world order, Cleopatra’s decision to rescue Egypt, British War Cabinet’s decision to fight on after the fall of France, Reagan and Gorbachev’s decision to knock down the Berlin Wall, and the Apple board’s decision to bring back Steve Jobs after firing him.
A final flashback… ah! Yes, a resolution. He got up and made his way back to the shop.
He’d get a red one.
