SUNNY & CLEAR WITH A HIGH OF CHOCOLATE
We may not be alone in the universe after all.
Imagine making contact with extraterrestrials exploring the galaxies in massive spacecraft. They need a pit-stop before heading back to their home planet. Or they could perhaps be nomads, looking to conquer & colonize whatever planets they can reach. If they ever visit us, they’ll probably want to snack on the favorite flavor of Earthlings. What will we give them?
Soybeans? Mashed potatoes? Split pea soup?
No way.
You may think that with crazy weather, lots of homework & an alien invasion that things aren't looking too good. But wait, hold it, the world isn’t going to hell in a hand basket; it’s coming to chocolate.
You see, living in the 21st century on planet Earth, everything connects.
Chocolate starts with colorful fruits hanging on trees called Theobroma cacao (which, BTW, means "Food of the Gods"). These trees grow only around the equator in the hot tropics. In the wilderness, forest-dwellers can harvest them in their natural habitat. Once harvested, they typically ship them to cooler latitudes because, unlike M&Ms, real chocolate melts in your hands AND in your mouth.
So one little bite of it in your hometown can set off a chain-reaction felt around the world. You can share with friends right next door. As well as make friends with people half a world away who grew the fruit that produces chocolate. For chocolate is your passport to lands far away. Just like the internet lets you see & talk with someone on the other side of the globe, a chocolate bar forms a kind of bridge... to the flavor & the feel of another country because each one encapsulates a sense of where it came from. The French have a fancy word for this: terroir.
Spending your allowance on such chocolate helps the family who harvested those fruits. Some of your money will end up in their pockets (& lots of likes on FB for that). That way they can take care of their rainforest homes where lots of birds, butterflies, & other wildlife like to play.
No, this isn’t a cure for cancer or world peace… it just might be more critical.
Upon that UFO landing on Earth, a wise president may command the army to, first, meet the creatures inside, not with bullets, but greet them with chocolate instead.
This could be our saving grace; saving ourselves in the process. Chocolate—universally loved—might allow us to befriend them. Because it contains so many healthy things, like the feel-good molecule theobromine, it'll give them a boost. Sweeter than pills & potions, chocolate is magic candy. Remember, it's a godsend.
If they harbored any evil will toward us, surely one lick & they'll text their leader back in the spaceship: "Save the Earth: It’s the Only Planet with Chocolate."
— Mark Christian, Founder, C-Spot.com
