Mark Spagnoli is lounging with his feet up on his desk and eating a bowl of Cap’n Crunch. He’s in his small, dimly lit office at Advo Services. Everyone else has gone home for the day. The bowl is his weekly Friday ritual. A quiet moment at the end of a long week.
This quiet moment will be just a moment. Remembering that he still has one more task to complete he bolts upright and punches the phone number on the side of the cereal box into the phone.
“What can I do for you?”
“Hi, my name is Mark Spagnoli. My friend just became the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. I was told to call you to claim a prize”
“Okay… well what do you do?”
“What do you mean?”
“In order for us to determine your prize, we need you to tell us more about yourself”
“Uh sure. I work as a sales manager at Advo Services. I’m married and have two kids. What else do you need?”
“We also need to know what you do for fun. It will be easiest if you could type those activities out in a spreadsheet and send it over”
“Alright but this seems like a lot of work for a cereal prize”
Confused but determined, Mark booted up his computer and got to work creating a spreadsheet listing everything he enjoyed doing. The task would prove harder than expected.
The whole situation was bizarre. He hadn’t spoken to Mike in nearly three years. They had been roommates junior year of college. Mike had just been made the starting quarterback of the Eagles when he called and insisted that his old pal reach out to Cap N’ Crunch and claim a prize.
Mark’s love of the nautical themed nuggets was well known and he assumed that the gesture was the result of a coincidental sponsorship deal. An act of goodwill from an old friend. His expectations for the prize were low. He certainly had not expected to be forced to evaluate his life.
It took him nearly two hours, but he finally put the spreadsheet together. It read as follows:
FAVORITE THINGS TO DO
- Playing tennis
- Mowing the lawn
- Spending time with the kids
- Collecting candles
- Reading
- Going out to dinner
- Making my wife smile
He emailed the sheet back to the customer service representative. A few weeks went by without a response. The sales manager continued his weekly tradition of kicking his feet up and eating his favorite cereal. Just when all hope seemed lost, a package showed up at the office.
It was a small, roughly eight by twelve cardboard box with an envelope taped to the side. Mark paused for a moment to think about what was inside. What good the good people at his favorite cereal company possibly have in store for the best friend of the newly minted starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles.
He ripped it open. Inside was a single box of Cap N’ Crunch. Mark thought maybe this was maybe a mistake. He opened the envelope to find the following:
Hey Mark,
I tried to set you up with a lifetime supply of Cap N’ Crunch but it didn’t work out. You failed a test that proved you don’t care enough about the cereal to deserve it. I’m sending this box as consolation.
Take care,
Mike the Starting Quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles
It was at that moment that Mark realized he needed to be more appreciative of the things he loves. He didn’t know he had a lifetime supply of Cap N’ Crunch until it was gone. The next week he wrote a love letter to his tennis shoes.