[From Bruce Nevin (980415.1517 EDT)]
I experienced an amusing example of conflict this morning.
I've been finishing the shingling on the front of my house. The scaffolding
is supported on pump jacks attached to 4x4 columns that are set off from
the roof overhang at the gable end so they stand about 4 feet away from the
front wall of the house. I had a cup of liquid that I was throwing out into
the bushes beyond this. In the direction I was throwing were three objects
I did not want to hit, the column, the edge of a trash can beyond the
corner of the house, and the edge of a ladder leaning up against the scaffold:
Trash
can
\ Column
* |
---+ | Ladder
> * /
> * I was standing in the doorway and had a choice
> to pitch it between the column and the trash
> can, or between the column and the ladder
me/ leaning up against the scaffold. The three
> objects were about equidistant by line of sight.
> I was looking for the widest aperture, couldn't
decide, and threw the liquid with most exquisite
accuracy onto the 4x4 column!
This conflict would have been resolved, I feel, if I were not under time
pressure. The telephone was ringing. This raised the gain on "get rid of
what's in that cup" at the expense of "decide which side of the column to
throw it".
Urgency is involved in many a conflict.
Bruce Nevin