Analysis Paralysis

I am on an email list of my fellow high school graduating class. Don't hear from them that often, but yesterday we got a "bad news" email that this kid (now 66) had died. With a link to his obit. I barely knew this kid, was not a friend, but I was struck by how "old" a man who is 66 seems in an obituary. I definitely have some kind of reality gap going when it comes to age.

Anyway, someone makes the suggestion that we should send flowers to the funeral home from the class and various people chime in with "I'm in" -- so then a helpful woman (always a woman, don't you know?) says she'll organize the flower fund, buy them and then give any leftover money to a charity in this man's name. I thought that was a good plan.

So then I had to decide if I donate any money. I decided to do it, addressed the envelope, and now have been wringing my hands over how much. I was thinking ten dollars... no one could criticize ten dollars... but really is five dollars enough? I hate decisions like this. Actually I'd rather do five dollars, but it seems so cheap. Somehow sticking a five dollar bill in an envelope seems less cheap to me than writing a check for five dollars... which I would do and be done with it except I don't have a five dollar bill. Guess I'll go with the ten dollars and consider it my good turn for the day.