There can be too much of a good thing, especially at the supermarket.

When we have too many choices, we're less reluctant to buy.Psychologists at Columbia University Business School conducted tests and discovered that when shoppers are given the option of choosing which jam to buy, they're 10 times more likely to make a purchase if they can select from six rather than 24 flavors.I can relate.Shopping for milk, bread and eggs has become similarly complicated.Milk, as I knew it, has undergone transformation.Hiding in its place are products packed in milk-looking containers but with new names.Things called acidophilus and soy are masquerading as milk. Some of it has been rebranded "Silk."I'm an old-timer, and for me, milk should be milk. Anything else is alien.I don't recall Ward and June Cleaver or the Beav sitting at the dinner table and asking for another glass of soy.And when Santa comes to your house, don't offend him by leaving a plate of cookies and a glass of acidophilus.I'm from the milk generation, and, for me, acidophilus sounds like a dinosaur.Of course, there's 1 percent milk and 2 percent milk. What I really want is 100 percent milk from a 100 percent cow.The bread aisle is just as bad.At one time I was presented with a fairly simple selection of white, rye and whole-wheat.But now I'm faced with low-fat, high-fiber, gluten-free, unbleached, crustless, pita and flavored varieties.I'm baffled. Yeast is yeast and west is west, and I'm lost in the decision-making process.The meat counter is puzzling, too.At one time, ground beef was ground beef.But now we have 85 percent lean, 90 percent, sirloin and chuck.Then there's prime cut, top round, bottom round and other things I don't really understand. It's enough to make my head go 'round.No place is more confusing that the soft drink area.Soda comes in every color and taste imaginable. Some is caffeine-free and artificially sweetened. Nutritionists tell us all of it is bad.And if you think eggs are an easy choice, think again.They still come in the old varieties of white or brown.But today, some eggs are supposed to be better because they're hatched from free-range chickens. They're basically chickens that live in a jail-free democracy. That means they're less stressed. They're definitely less stressed than I am. They probably eat lots of soy and acidophilus.Of course, we're fortunate to live at a time and place where we can shop in well-stocked stores. It's a privilege we shouldn't take for granted.But we have too many choices and we owe much of this dilemma to the sophistication of baby boomers.We boomers are responsible for the booming choices in the food aisles and just about everywhere else, too.Boomers are credited with innovations such as SUVs and PCs, and a transformation in eating habits.We grew up loving sugar in all its forms. And we've done more to complicate our lives than the tax code of the Internal Revenue Service.Yet, according to the Retirement Living Information Center, boomers are now trying to downsize and streamline."They're more interested in a carefree lifestyle that offers them comfort and fewer household duties," says the center's website.We boomers realize our leisure hours are precious and few. But we've confounded ourselves with too many choices.No wonder we're trying to simplify our lives.I long for the carefree days when I went shopping for bread, eggs and milk without needing to figure out what they call it. Why do things need to be complicated?I just want the simple life of a free-range chicken.