The Scooby Doo Principle

As you likely know if you’ve heard me work, I love to use metaphors to make a point while tapping. I generally don’t plan on them – they just sort of occur to me mid-round.

Sometimes they involve some sort of humorous pop-culture reference – which is sometimes lost on folks who are either not from the U.S. or are younger tha
I am. Ah well – as one of my colleagues at Universal Studios once said when one of
his attempts at humor was met with silence as he gave a tour,

“Some of these jokes are just for me.”

Anyhow, one such reference came out in a round this week, and as silly as it was, it really made sense.

I call it “The Scooby Doo Principle.”

For those of you who are not familiar with the original Scooby Doo cartoons – and as a refresher for the rest – Scooby is a goofy Great Dane (think dog, not Hamlet) with a certain amount of language comprehension, and a penchant for food – particularly “Scooby snacks.”

His teenage companions – often referred to as the “Scooby Gang” – include Fred, the handsome leader, Daphne, his gorgeous quasi-girlfriend, Velma, a brilliant though nerdy bookworm and, of course, Scooby’s best friend Shaggy, a beatnik/hippie/slacker whose lack of courage is only overcome by his insatiable appetite.

This unlikely crew drives around in a flashy van called the Mystery Machine, clearing up otherwise unsolvable crimes in various towns.

Yes – there is a point to this – just needed to set the stage…

Anyhow, the plot of each mystery usually followed the same general formula:

There is some place that people want to get to: a mountaintop resort, an amusement park, a mansion, a sea cove… but there is some monster or ghost keeping people from reaching their goal.

Attempts by the local authorities to put an end to attacks are useless –
until the gang just happens to show up. Being mystery junkies, the teens set about to put an end to the problem.

After a series of comical shenanigans and the thwarting of best laid plans, faithful Scooby Doo somehow manages to trip up the villain, who always turns out to be, rather than some unearthly menace, just some greedy person with a fiendish plot to scare people away for their own diabolical gain.

And upon being unmasked, they invariable say, “And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”

Then Scooby laughs, “Hee hee hee hee! Scooby Dooby Doo!”

“Yes – good fun, Brad – so what’s your point…?”

Here it is. You have goals, right? Places you’d like to get to…

But there seem to be things in your way – things that scare you off (sometimes is such a subtle way you don’t know you are being scared off – you just try to convince yourself you really aren’t that interested in reaching that goal…)

These blocks can look like monsters… ghosts… and they are pretty effective at keeping you away from where you want to get to.

But if you could pull the masks off, you ‘re likely to find they aren’t unearthly monsters at all – just misguided people.

Parents who didn’t know any better…

Friends who think they know what is best…

Teachers who were having a bad day…

And, ultimately, it is your comfort zone that keeps employing these “monsters” to scare you off the mountain, thinking that you would be safest staying put.

And it might have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling part of you that isn’t so keen on staying put.

Keep heading up that mountain. As elaborate as the monster costumes may be, their bark is worse than their bite.

Like the Scooby Gang, refuse to be scared off. You deserve to enjoy the riches they are trying to keep you from. I’m confident you will also be saving the day for more folks than just yourself.

And, just for fun, as you do the unmasking and disempower these former limitations, you might try laughing,

“Hee hee hee hee! Scooby Dooby Doo!”

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And now… from the Twilight Zone files…

As I was writing this article, I took a break to see what my family
was up to. They were watching a video – an old episode of…

Scooby Doo…!

(They had no idea what I was writing about.)

ZOINKS! :)