Brad?"
"You bet. The second ingredient selected by a bunch of fishmongers who choose their attitude, is something that is familiar to any kid. We just forget its importance as we become older and more serious . Brad, tell your mom what you do at recess."
Brad looked over the top of the tuna that was pinning him to the edge of the counter and said, "Play."
Mary Jane opened her journal and made a new note:
PLAY! Her mind flashed back to the scene at the market she witnessed on that first day. She had been looking at a playground with adult kids at recess. A Throwing fish, kidding with each other and the customers, calling out orders, repeating the calls. The place had been electric.
"Don’t misunderstand,"said Lonnie." This is a real business which is run to make a prof it. This business pays a lot of salaries, and we take the business seriously, but we discovered we could be serious about business and still have fun with the way we conducted business. You know, not get all uptight, but let things flow. What many of our customers think of as entertainment is just a bunch of adult kids having a good time, but doing it in a respectful manner.
"And the benefits are many. We sell a lot of fish. We have low turnover. We enjoy work that can be very tedious . We have become great friends, like the players on a winning team. We have a lot of pride in what we do and the way we do it. And we have become world famous. All from doing some thing which Brad does without much thought. We know how t o play!"
Brad said, "Hey, Mom, why don’t you bring the people at work to Lonnie so he can teach them how to play?
MAKE THEIR DAY
Suddenly some one addressed Mary Jane from the side. "Hey, reporter lady, want to buy a fish?" One of Lonnie’s associates had come over and was holding a huge fish head in his hand. "I’ll give you a great deal on this one. It’s missing a few parts but the price is right." He made the fish’s mouth into a smile and said, "I call it smiling sushi. just a penny." And he looked at her with a crazy, crooked smile.
Lonnie was laughing and, of course, Brad wanted to hold it. Stacy was hiding behind Mom’s legs. Mary Jane took out a penny and gave it to the fish guy they called "Wolf " She didn't need to ask why they called him Wolf His hair was unruly and his eyes tracked everything as if it were prey. This wolf was clearly domesticated, however, and if such a thing were possible, Wolf had a grandfatherly air about him. Wolf put the smiling sushi in a bag and gave it to Brad, who was beaming. Shy Stacy piped up for the first time that morning and said she wanted one, too. Wolf brought over two more. Now they all had a smiling sushi.
Lonnie said, "Thanks, Wolf. You just showed us the third ingredient in creating a high-energy, world famous market."
"He did?"
"Think back to the first two times you were here, Mary Jane. What stands out in your mind?"
"I remember a young redheaded woman, about twenty years old. She got up on the plat form and tried to catch a fish. Of course she found them a little slippery and missed twice. But she had a ball."
"Why was that so memorable?"
"She was so animated, so alive. And the rest of us in the crowd identified with her. We could imagine ourselves in her place."