The Washington Post ran an article titled CRISIS IN CHOCOLATELAND.  The article discusses the 5 “power” sectors of the grocery store checkout line.  These areas are lined with “grab-and-go items that account for 4% of a stores profit.

Because the checkout process has been sped up. Shoppers are not lingering-longer.  The result is the average shopper is not buying as many of the grab-and-go items, and this has decreased the sales of companies like Hershey’s.

Evidently Frank Jimenez, Hershey’s senior director of retail evolution, has been reading the Bible.  Some of the comments made by Jimenez sound suspiciously like the temptation of Adam and Eve.

Jimenez uses the “Eight Human Truths of Impulse” to explain why people succumb to checkout-aisle-urges. The goodies can delight, indulge, recharge or “rescue”; they can spoil (“I worked hard today”) or charm (“That’s a great idea”) . . .”

The key metric that determines whether or not a shopper purchases the sweet delight is called “dwell time.”  The longer the shopper waits in line and looks at the goodies, the more likely she is to indulge

If you’ve read the story of Adam and Eve, you know that when it comes to temptation, “dwell time” is don’t-do-well-time.  The longer Eve dwelled and listened to the sales pitch, the more attractive the forbidden fruit became:  She could smell its fragrance and imagine its flavor.

The moral of the story is this:  When temptation comes your way, don’t abide—run and hide.  Paul stated this moral in these words:  “No temptation has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. But God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any temptation beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every temptation has a way out, so that it will never be impossible for you to bear it (I Corinthians 10:13).”