The Big O

Do you ever get one of those songs in your head that you just can't shake?  I get them sometimes from the last song I heard on the radio before I turned it off.  

Or worse yet, when someone says to me, "I hate it.  I just can't get (insert song here) out of my mind," and instantly I can't either!

Well it happened today.  I was in Walmart looking everywhere for toothpicks - something my neighbor asked me to pick up for her.

I looked diligently, but to no avail.  Then I asked a store employee – three different employees at three different times.  But they were of no help.

Two out of three sent me to the 'kitchen gadget' aisle, and a third to another location.  I found kabob sticks, but no tooth picks.

And as I am going along, I notice the music wafting through the store.  It’s the last day of November, so it’s nice to hear Christmas music.  (I just have strong objections to stores that begin playing it before Thanksgiving!)

Up until now, it’s been just playing softly and unnoticed, subliminal backdrop to my own personal song: “Where are those toothpicks, dang it!”

And about the time the pleasant elevator music reached me on a conscious level, the orchestral rendering of ‘Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer’ was just winding up.  

No words, mind you.  Just the instrumental.

And as I turn down the next aisle, another song begins.  This time it is ‘Jingle Bells.’  The instrumental is joined by the jingling of bells.  

I get swept up in the holiday music, and begin to hum along without really thinking about it.

“Hmm hmm hm…  Hmm hum hm…  

Hm hm hm hm hmm…”  

Then the humming turns into quiet, subconscious singing along. 

Only instead of the words, “Jingle bells.  Jingle bells.  Jingle all the way,” as they should have been, I realize I am singing, 

“Oh oh oh!  The big fat O.  Overstock dot com!”

I don’t know if that Christmas commercial for Overstock.com plays nationwide, but it plays here on the west coast: 

“Oh oh oh!  The big fat O.  Overstock dot com!” to the tune of Jingle Bells.

Now, I imagine that if Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, or the company president  knew that their canned elevator rendition of Christmas songs was inadvertently making their customers turn directly to Overstock.com, they’d be mightily upset and most likely would quickly pull Jingle Bells from its place in the loop of their canned carols!

Just one of those silly little moments of life.  One of those I-can’t-get-that-song-out-of-my-head moments we all experience occasionally.  

But it made me think.

Stretched me a few different directions, this one.

First of all, how easily we get blown off course.  Yes, I was still looking for toothpicks (which I never found, by the way!), but I kept getting distracted from the search by the ‘vanilla’ flavored, canned elevator music playing in the background.  

It was slightly flavored but fairly plain. Not loud enough to distract you from your shopping – just loud enough to remind you of happy occasions and lots of gifts under the tree.

With society’s incessant bombardment of stimuli these days, it’s no wonder we can’t focus on anything.  I am irritated that now they even have obnoxious tv screens at checkout lines in the grocery store and at gas pumps!

But secondly, and maybe even more frightening, is the insidious marketing of those geniuses over there at Overstock.com.  It is no coincidence that they made their little jingle out of such a well known song.

But they went a step beyond.  They purposely chose (and no one can convince me otherwise) to put their jingle to a well known song that would be played by every commercial shopping chain in the entire country at the busiest shopping time of the year!

 
Free advertising!  

I’d venture to bet that I was not the only one in that store with “Oh, oh, oh.  The big fat O. Overstock.com” playing in the back of my head to that almost subliminal elevator music in Walmart.

And what a surprise to find, as I strolled through the bumper car chaos of Walmart, that Overstock.com offers free shipping on your entire purchase!  I didn’t even know that on a conscious level.  But the little recorder in the back of my brain did!

So not only do I have an alternative to this hectic, noisy Walmart.  I could be shopping from the comfort of my own home – in jammies!  

And it wouldn’t cost me a penny to have all my gifts delivered to my doorstep!

In this world of constant, sensory bombardment, we probably have an even greater need to screen what goes into our thoughts, either conscious or unconsciously.  

Things that we may make part of our being that we did not actually choose to put there.  Things that filter into our heads without our paying attention or being aware.

And conversely, we can learn the opposite lesson: How important is it that we live our lives in a conscious, intentional manner that we may always affect others only in a positive way?

So I guess the lesson for this blog is two-fold:  

Maybe we should be more aware of what we are putting (or allowing to be put) into our minds rather than going along blindly, mindless of how it may affect us.

 

And maybe just as importantly, in this world where no man is an island, to be aware of our actions and how they might affect those around us either negatively or positively.

With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk.  - Proverbs 7:21

Those who guide this people mislead them,

and those who are guided are led astray.  - Isaiah 9:16

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray.

The one who does what is right is righteous,

just as he is righteous.  – 1 John 3:7

His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.  – Psalm 55:21