Answer to "Why Hershey's Chocolate here and not there?"

As I said in the last post (which I accidentally deleted just now), my brother-in-law and I had an interesting conversation at Hershey's Chocolate World.

He started by asking, "Why is it such a big deal to buy a Hershey's chocolate bar here when you can get the same thing back at home?"

Here was my shot at it. It's because chocolate upstream is more valuable than chocolate downstream. Have you ever seen advertising for bottled water from a delta? I haven't. I'm not saying that downstream chocolate (the candy bar you buy in Anytown, USA) is contaminated. Just that buying Hershey chocolate upstream - from the headwaters themselves in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA - is more valuable.

We always prefer the source. We say, "I didn't buy this chair from a box store. I bought it from an Amish craftsman who made it in his shop." Or, "This isn't a knock-off watch. I got it from my great-great grandfather. It's an original." Or, "I didn't get this candy bar from 7-11. It's a Hershey bar from Hershey Chocolate World from my trip to Hershey."

And, somehow, that makes it taste better.

On a theological note, you can argue that our immoral behavior shows the converse; that we prefer the knock-off, the idol. But that's only because the Source isn't as available as we'd like. We can go to Hershey and get the candy bars we want. We can't always go to God and get the answers we want.