"Press One For Yes"

            “Press one for yes.  Press one for yes.  Press two for no.”

            Because our home phone is initially answered by an automated system, by the time it rings for me, I often hear cryptic messages such as this one.  I’m left wondering who the automated caller is and what might happen if I follow the prompts.

            In this case, the repetition made it clear that the sender of the message wanted me to answer “yes,” but I hung up after the “Press two for no.”

            It seems like there should be some sort of lesson or moral to this experience, but I’m not sure what it is.  On the one hand, I have sometimes said yes when I should have said no.  Of course, I’ve also said no when I should have said yes.  Sometimes it was clear what the outcome would be, sometimes not.  Some outcomes were better or worse than others.

            There is a third answer I have often resorted to:  “I don’t know” or “Maybe.”  My children found those third answers hopeful.  They were usually right.  Fortunately for me, they (my children, not my answers) turned out to be fine people despite my waffling will and inconsistent parenting.

            I’m still a “maybe” person, but in recent years I’ve learned more about yeses and nos.  I like being more sure of what I prefer and don’t mind being less sure of being right.  Because so often the times I thought I was so right turned out to be the times I was most wrong.