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Chocolate! Chocolate!

I know of a very entertaining, slyly-deep government executive that often comes up with the most profound commentary. It's a surprise each time, not because one wouldn't expect him to think of such things, but because he most often shows one face to the world, and another in very brief, off-guard moments. It's the former, however, with which most of his co-workers identify him so it is always a surprise when he delivers one of his profundities.

This morning he was walking the halls, something he often does. I think it's that "management by walking around" theory, and it works well for him. He's a friendly sort, and employees smile when they see him coming. He usually sings as he saunters along, often at the top of his lungs, so folks know he's coming. They wait to hear his jolly, "Hi There!" or "What's up?" and they exchange some friendly surface talk.

Yet today, before I saw him I heard him, and it wasn't the sound of his singing that first reached me.

"CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE!"

I finally had to find out what was going on. He passed by and wanted to know where everyone in the front office had disappeared to. From there, we started chatting. I asked why he was yelling about wonderful, sweet, "Chocolate!"

"Here's the thing," he told me. "People don't pay attention anymore. If I walked up and down these halls and started screaming, Help!' or Fire!,' I'd get no attention. It's the way we are nowadays."

I was beginning to get his drift. I sensed one of his gems of wisdom on its way to my ears, and my ears alone. I almost wanted to grab a pen and a pad of paper. Instead, I continued to listen. Very carefully.

"So," his hands were waving, his eyes danced, "instead, I announce something that will get attention. You wanna know about chocolate. Everyone wants to know about chocolate. That's important stuff. You hear me. Once I have you listening, I then go on to what I really wanted to talk about in the first place."

But isn't that false advertising? This executive doesn't think so. He sees it as a smart way to get his point across to a, for the most part, only half-coherent audience. And to do that, he has to get creative. So what if he doesn't really have chocolate? I wish he did . . . but still, he did receive an answer to his question, and his audience me benefited from his subtle wisdom.

Hey, it ain't chocolate . . . but it's still a neat trade. Maybe more of us should start yelling, "Chocolate!" to get our point across be it an issue we need addressed, a question we need answered, or a product we need sold. The message here is that in today's world there are too many things vying for a dwindling mass human attention span. If it's going to be brought to the forefront where it will be heard, it needs to be creatively packaged. We shouldn't think that just because the subject matter is important to us, it's also going to automatically be at the top of everyone else's list. We are a diverse world. We have many different things that need to be handled. It's called multi-tasking.

So, go ahead. Yell, "Chocolate!" at the top of your lungs. But do it in such a way that others will be so surprised to hear it out of you that they'll suddenly be intrigued, smile, and pay attention.

Be sly, but be deep. It's that kind of world we live in these days!

Learn more about this author, Linda Alexander.
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