RON’S WISDOM SALON: A fictional advice column

Dear Ron,

My problem is with doors. When I approach a public doorway, I never know which door to take because there are often several leading to the same place, and I panic. Will it be the  large door, the smaller one beside it, or the  revolver?  There is also the problem of deciding if it is a “push” or a “pull”, and even when these are marked  it is usually not clearly visible and mistakes are made.  Is there a way I could be more decisive about my exits and entrances?

Door Dread

Dear Door Dread,

I usually go for the one that seems the most  friendly, but it’s not always the right choice. This is not an easy question. Have you thought of going “eeny-meeny?”  That would take it out of your hands and put it on the shoulders of chance, and you could then try to court the gods of Chance in some ritual by leaving them nightly fruit so that they will be on your side.

The push/ pull thing I totally agree with you about.  Can’t these door makers get it right for once?  Make the words bigger for Gordon’s sake.  There is the added confusing factor there in that both push and pull begin with the same first two letters, so people will need to exercise vigilance, but at least the alert ones will get the hang of it sooner or later and not have to do that annoying double-jerk maneuver each time, which always causes embarrassment and consternation.

For instance, a gentleman of my acquaintance was with a lady and wanted to open a door for her as would be expected. Well, they approach the door and he pulled when he should have pushed with so much force that he dislocated his shoulder in the process, causing him to begin gesticulating wildly and whinnying to the point that the young lady had to swallow a tranquilizer. Needless to say, it put him in a poor light, and never again would the lady answer his phone calls. He is now in therapy because he cannot approach a public door without getting a skin rash. I wish you the best of luck in mastering your door dilemma.