Urania felt the heft of Webster’s Ninth Collegiate Edition on her lap. “Manifest… as a verb… means to make evident or certain by showing or displaying.” “Hmmm…” Thalia used the slats of her chair’s back to scratch her itchy welts. “Simply wishing doesn’t make it so?”
As an observer (benevolent on occasion) it has been humbling to intersect. This morning my own attention was drawn to a saying that my wife many years ago framed for her best friend. It is from Thoreau "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music that he hears, however measured or far away".
Betty Crocker cake mixes went through an interesting sales journey. They were selling well enough and then a product developer at the company said, “What if we made them easier to make? Like, just add some milk and some eggs?” Sales went up immensely.
The same team was onto something. People love the feeling of making a cake and contributing. Adding the eggs and milk felt like they were part of the process.
But then they pushed it. It wasn’t their fault. They thought, “Well, what if it’s just adding water? You take the mix out, add some water, stir, and cook it up. Same deal, right?
Sales fell like a rock.
You know why? Because just pouring water into a bag of powder isn’t “making a cake.” It’s nothing. Anyone could do that.
So the company rushed and set it back to “two eggs and two cups of milk.” Sales rushed back up.
People want to be part of the process!
Make it easy for them to participate, but not too easy. None of us want to feel like we are just the water in the mix…
Wow, Gail! Some days reading a new 3mm post reminds me of being in an old world bazaar. Everything is available, but what I leave with can be the result of my own discernment. While we might dicker, er, barter, over the price of a nifty t-shirt, I don’t have to be picky deciding how much of the rest is good stuff. It’s all good stuff!
Cal’s contribution of gathering ingredients for the cake reminded me of the fable of The Little Red Hen. Any other communitarians here ever read that as a child? Baking bread as I recall? So glad in my now life to observe this team (author and Muses) making a cake as a cooperative venture.
A recipe to avert Red Hen grumblings while ensuring a luscious slice of cake. Ice cream anyone?!
I just love todays Love letter and comments! T Shirt joke was great!
On the cake mixes - because women felt they they were not contributing enough to the actual boxed recipe, decorating cakes with frosting became a thing! This was to make them feel better about just adding water or eggs and milk.
As an observer (benevolent on occasion) it has been humbling to intersect. This morning my own attention was drawn to a saying that my wife many years ago framed for her best friend. It is from Thoreau "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music that he hears, however measured or far away".
Go well and be well.....
Cake background info…
Betty Crocker Experience:
You might know this story:
Betty Crocker cake mixes went through an interesting sales journey. They were selling well enough and then a product developer at the company said, “What if we made them easier to make? Like, just add some milk and some eggs?” Sales went up immensely.
The same team was onto something. People love the feeling of making a cake and contributing. Adding the eggs and milk felt like they were part of the process.
But then they pushed it. It wasn’t their fault. They thought, “Well, what if it’s just adding water? You take the mix out, add some water, stir, and cook it up. Same deal, right?
Sales fell like a rock.
You know why? Because just pouring water into a bag of powder isn’t “making a cake.” It’s nothing. Anyone could do that.
So the company rushed and set it back to “two eggs and two cups of milk.” Sales rushed back up.
People want to be part of the process!
Make it easy for them to participate, but not too easy. None of us want to feel like we are just the water in the mix…
Sprinkles anyone? Or should I say Jimmies?
Hope all goes well with the surgeon today Gail.
Wow, Gail! Some days reading a new 3mm post reminds me of being in an old world bazaar. Everything is available, but what I leave with can be the result of my own discernment. While we might dicker, er, barter, over the price of a nifty t-shirt, I don’t have to be picky deciding how much of the rest is good stuff. It’s all good stuff!
Cal’s contribution of gathering ingredients for the cake reminded me of the fable of The Little Red Hen. Any other communitarians here ever read that as a child? Baking bread as I recall? So glad in my now life to observe this team (author and Muses) making a cake as a cooperative venture.
A recipe to avert Red Hen grumblings while ensuring a luscious slice of cake. Ice cream anyone?!
T-shirt: “I thought the dryer was making my clothes shrink. Turned out it was the refrigerator.” 😁
Definitely *not* the oven! 😋
I just love todays Love letter and comments! T Shirt joke was great!
On the cake mixes - because women felt they they were not contributing enough to the actual boxed recipe, decorating cakes with frosting became a thing! This was to make them feel better about just adding water or eggs and milk.
Excellent! I am #Grateful 🙏🏼🕊🙏🏼