Another book that has shaped, or rather affirmed, the idea of bread&cup is The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz. When I began reading this, it seemed as if the author had some unknown access to my subconscious or at least had been reading my journal. He agrees with my personal experience at the supermarket. I was beginning to think I was not normal, but I get worn out by too many choices.

Yesterday I had to buy shaving cream. There were 23 different cans, colors, scents and sizes for me to choose from. With this many options, I am led to believe that I must have a preference if its Rain Forest or Moisturizing or Baby Face or Ultra-Glide. All I wanted was something I can shave with that works pretty good.

This is one kind of dilemma Schwartz points out. Too many choices can lead to added stress. The reason being; we fear making the wrong choice. Thus we will deliberate, hoping we will find the best item out of the many choices.

And its not just shaving cream. Food, cars, clothes, cell phones, houses, vacations, schools, and so on. The greater number of choices available to us does not necessarily equate into a better experience.

When you visit bread&cup, we will not assault you with a plethora of options. What you see on our menu will be items we believe in that we try to do very well. A recent trip to a sandwich shop caused me to take note of a word on their menu, Signature, in reference to a certain selection of sandwiches. There were 15. How many signatures can you really have? I was always taught to sign my name the same way. One is better than many.