Musings at Altitude

I brought donuts into the office this week, because for some reason, donuts create smiles.  But the smiles started long before they ever made it to the office, because it was an artistic and logistical masterpiece to pick out 54 donuts, with tender loving care to get some of every kind and package them in a way that they wouldn’t get smashed in transit to the office.

As I pondered and selected, a constant stream of others came into the store to pick out their one donut.  None of them paused and looked.  Every one of them walked up with passion and purpose to get what I can only surmise is the thing they get every single time they came into the store.  When each walked up, I quietly stepped away to let them have total access, which gave me time to compare what was packaged with what was left to make sure I maximized the diversity and thus guaranteed that everyone in the office would get at least something in the batch that would match their tastes and generate a smile.

When I got to the office, the access to the donuts came with one specific caveat – in order to get a donut, you had to introduce yourselves to someone who you didn’t know in the office.  When that note went out, many people rushed up to the kitchen to grab and go, hoping that they would go straight to step 2 without having to do that introductory step. 

What they didn’t know and quickly found out was I sent the note and sprinted to the door of the kitchen knowing the introverts would try to get their first.  The rules had to be followed, and the smile from getting to know someone new preceded the smile that came from salivary satisfaction.

As they always do, the attraction of the donuts and the desperate desire for the smile that comes from eating them forced all those ordinarily desk bound, monitor focused people to relate to others.

And they did.

And all was well.

For about 20 minutes or so.

And then everyone returned to their non-engaged, work consumed, desk bound routines.

It may be time for a beer cart type of mobile donut station that meanders around the office offering taste filled smiles with the only payment required of saying hello to someone else.

Then we could yell, “FORE” and toss the donuts around the office!

That would be cool!