What Your Toilet Plunger Says About Your Decision-Making Abilities

I’m standing in aisle 7 grabbing the usual garbage bags and kitchen sponges when a man frantically enters the scene.

His brow is dipped in sweat, short of breath, he scours the shelves behind me with a ferocity one might see in an addict looking for a dope bag.

Except this guy doesn’t look like a dope fiend.

Matter of fact, if it weren’t for his torn and tattered State sweatshirt showcasing his perspiration, I’d probably think nothing of him.

But his tenacity in this aisle is distracting me from finding my standard scrubbing sponge.

I pivot 180 degrees to observe what this mouth breather is looking for and come to find him in a conundrum.

In his left hand is a black 6-ribbed plunger, — you know, the ones that you’d see stuffed into the corner of a 7/11 restroom, covered in dust and debris?

In his right hand is a white and silver plunger that looks like it came out of the Jetson’s master bathroom and could double as a collector’s item at Art Basel.

His eyes pan back and forth, hands gripping both plungers with such desperation that surely he will make a decision in a matter of seconds. As I watch this man wage a mental war inside his sweaty skull, I come to a realization.

This man is a reactor.

You see there are two types of people: reactors and responders.

Reactors act on intuition.

Decisions are made in seconds—thoughts tap the brain and immediately come out of the mouth. There’s no questioning or apprehension, just raw action.

Where Reactors lack logic and reality, they thrive on instinct. Their mind is a vortex of thoughts and the body is simply a vessel for action made manifest.

Responders act on process.

Decisions are made when all the information is given to them. Their thoughts run through a series of filters and funnels that simplify and exploit any areas of question.

When questioning or apprehension enters the scene, logic and a sense of reality take over as director. Their mind is an archive of past experiences and encounters informing the action that will come forth.

We are all reactors and responders.

It’s just a matter of where we find ourselves at that moment.

For some, the only time a plunger will ever cross their mind is when the toilet is backed up and there are no other options but to solve the immediate problem: shit in the toilet.

This is a reaction.

For others, a plunger is prioritized because nobody wants to find themselves reaching for a closet hanger the next time the john is backed up. They might not have a problem on hand, but best believe they’re prepared for any and all poop problems.

This begs the question…

Which one are you?