I can picture famous comedian Jerry Seinfeld asking the question in his nasally voice, clear as day, "So, what's the deal with free cake?". Where I work it seems there are lots of occasions where someone lays out free cake in the lobby or near one of the secretary's desks. Two very distinct groups then begin to emerge. One group, the spreaders, immediately drops everything they are working on to go door to door to share the news, to get the word out. It becomes to them the most important mission of their lives. They hang up on people mid conversation, they literally drop whatever is in their arms wherever they happen to be standing, they hoot like rabid owls, and they sprint out of their offices. The second group, the receivers, are the folks who take in the news. They follow exactly the same pattern as the spreaders, sprinting away from their work to get to the location of the alledged free cake. They bark and yowl repeatedly. They don't care if they have to push over the elderly or trample on babies. As they run wildly about, they begin to turn into spreaders themselves. These people, the spreaders and the receivers, are fanatical. They seem to immediately turn into zombies. They drop all decorum and lose the ability to control their bladders, all over the promise of free cake. So, what is the deal with free cake? Is it really the food product, or do they hate their work so much that they would look for any excuse to do something else? It's not even like the cake that is served is anything special. What am I not understanding?
