“He has a one-track mind.” That’s an expression I used to hear frequently but less often these days. It has an earthiness lacking in more abstract terms such as “monomania” or “fixation.” A friend of mine hardly ever sends an email without mentioning the Italian burger offered up by the Green Front Restaurant in Canandaigua. It seems a bit accusatory to label him a monomaniac or to charge him with having a fixation. Saying that he has a one-track mind is a much friendlier tease. One might even call it more tasteful. That is, if one were into puns.

Italian burgers aside, I fear a personal tendency toward the “one-track mind” affliction. Recently my new car (Subaru Forester, base model) arrived at the dealership. While in the process of cleaning out my trade-in vehicle, fumbling under the driver’s seat for that final elusive Maxfli golf ball, I had the vaunted “aha” moment: the E-ZPass was still attached to the windshield!

As I struggled to remove the stubborn monitor, I was struck by the weirdest thought. Would I need to purchase a new E-ZPass, one recalibrated to the increased value of my vehicle? Would I now be charged more per mile of Thruway driving?

A vigorous final yank wrested the E-ZPass from the windshield, also catapulting the Maxfli from where I had placed it on the dashboard. The burst of commotion snapped me back to reality. I realized that I had momentarily become the victim of the one-track mind. My recent attention to property reassessment and attendant taxes had gotten the best of me. I........

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