Easter Egg Hunting Theories

I have recently been in contact with a friend from high school, Jon. Easter has just been upon us so I will relate to you his theories:

"I have this long drawn out theory that easter egg hunts are like a menagerie of adult life -- each kid's true colors and personality come out during the hunt. As an example, I was always the type of kid that put immense thought into strategizing how to collect the most possible eggs in the first burst of time so as to maximize my egg-take. And I would always get a lot of eggs, but then I'd see a few other smaller kids without any eggs and start to feel bad and give them a few. And then, inevitably, I'd learn that one of the smaller kids had scammed me and they were really hiding a huge stash someplace behind their parents or a bike. That's when I'd get really angry that I had been take advantage of and resole to strategize more next time to get the most eggs. And the cycle began again. I'm fundamentally the same way now as an adult: the classic accomidator. Willing to bend over backyard to make anyone happy, values relationships at all costs, but only to a point. When I've been taken advantage of one too many times I flip.

I saw my high school friend . . . . for lunch on Friday and he at first disabused my connection between easter egg hunt antics and adult behavior. But then he remembered what _he_ was like as a child on the hunt -- a consummate value-finder, he actually opened up each egg he found to see if the contents were worth keeping. If not, he'd throw it back and look for something better. That is to this day (and was when he was in high school) a pretty-near-perfect description of his personality."

I thought that was a pretty interesting theory, don't you? Unfortunately, the variables in my childhood hunts were somewhat doctored. We always did our hunt with the cousins at our house and field beyond. We all knew that when the hunt was over, the treats would be equally distributed. Therefore, the prize in my situation was the same for each child, regardless of strategy or luck or whatever. Having said that, I still remember comparing with cousins "how many eggs did you get?"

I remember getting the most satisfaction from finding the well-hid egg. In my mind, every egg was not created equal-- so though I may have made it out of the hunt with less eggs, I personally knew I had been the "cleverest" or worked the "hardest" if I found the egg under a rock or in a tree that everyone else had missed. How does this relate to my personality? Hmmmmm, I do take pleasure in accomplishing things that other people don't want to do or can't. Yeah, I guess I don't put much value on accomplishing chores that "anyone" can do-- you know like the dishes or laundry? Maybe this is why I've struggled at times with my worth as a stay-at-home mom?

What do you think? Can your childhood egg hunting behavior be extrapolated to explain aspects of your adult life?