Ed Deadbeat races to the Bursar's Office on the first day of class and notes that the line is four students long. Ed figures that the wait will be at least ten minutes and, having better uses of his time, he decides to proceed to the next item on his to-do list. Ed's behavior is best described as:

The best answer to the question: Ed's behavior is best described as:___, would be: Balking.

Explanation:

Balking means to be unwilling to do something, or take steps to prevent something that will happen from happening. In this case, Ed Deadbeat needs to do some errands at the Brusar's Office on his first day of class, but he realizes that he must wait in order to achieve his goal. Instead of patiently waiting in line, like the others, he literally balks at the idea of spending time on the line to be assisted, and decides to rather move on with other items on his to-do list. Ed is balking because he is literally avoiding having to wait in line to get to his objective. Rather, he gives priority to other errands and moves on. This is the very definition of balking.