Evidently, at some point in the 45 minutes between leaving the house and arriving at the bowling alley, she bought a new car.

She called me between games and gave me the news: "The boys are bowling well," she said, "Oh, and I bought a car." Frankly, I didn't know she was shopping for a car, but I was duly impressed with her efficiency. Desperate for a new vehicle, she entered the dealership, pointed at the car she liked, and said to a lucky sales person: "I want that one. In white." She said she'd be back to sign papers and then rushed off to the local Bowlerama.

Conversely, I have a friend who squandered 17 successive Saturdays in search of a new lens for his camera. What can I say: he was a bachelor with few ties and even fewer obligations, so he felt free to squander -- to exhaustively explore the marketplace, diligently peruse all available products, weigh all the accompanying research, and take another week to waffle before finally taking the leap and buying a lens.

I know this tale to be true because each week he'd call me with an update and to solicit my opinion. I was married with three fairly young children and, if I got a really bad itch, I was hard-pressed to find time to scratch it. So, when he'd tell me all about his Saturday and ask what I thought about the lenses he was considering, I admittedly was short on insight, empathy for his plight and patience.

"Just buy the lens," I'd snap. Which lens? "Any damn lens. Just buy one and get on with your life." Such as it is. He said he didn't like to make snap decisions. I said he should pull the trigger on the purchase. Before cameras became obsolete.

This week I read in the newspaper experts are exhorting people to avoid snap decisions, while "extolling the virtues of sleeping on decisions to let the unconscious mind sort things out."

According to the article, psychologists at the University of New South Wales and the University of Essex conducted experiments to determine how people choose big-ticket items like cars and apartments, and to see the best method of making important choices. The experts concluded that when facing a complex decision, "Careful, rational thought is still the best way to go."

Balderdash.

Most major decisions my wife and I have ever made were made in haste, before the demons of indecision and waffling what-ifs had a chance to set in. We even bought a house after seeing it for only 15 minutes. You see, we took a late-night tour through the beautiful abode, fell in love, and the next morning our agent informed us that another party was putting in an offer. What to do? Can you buy a house you've only seen for 15 minutes? We did, and it was the smartest decision we've ever made.

Now, I'm not saying there aren't exceptions. If, for instance, you meet a knockout in an after-hours bar whose name, you're sure, is Bonny or Betty or maybe Gina or Wanda, and you're so head-over-heels in love you think you might get her name tattooed on your backside, or ask her to marry you that very night in Las Vegas, well ... maybe you should sleep on those notions.

Otherwise, go for it. Go with your gut. That's why humans have instincts, to help them survive. To help them buy cars and houses in under 30 minutes and to save them from a lifetime of sacrificing Saturdays for one lousy lens.

Andy Juniper can be visited at his Web site, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@strangledeggs.com.