something about Choke i don't get.

[QUOTE=xquadrophenia;1122403]what does the whole.. "in a broadway theatre, announcing "elvis has left the building" means a fire

in a grocery store, paging mr. cash is a call for an armed security guard. paging
freight check to women's clothing" means somebody is shoplifting in that department" thing means?[/QUOTE]

alert codes.

Instead of announcing over the loud speaker, "OMG THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE!!!" and inviting chaos, there is a code.

I don't know about any of that, but its good to know you aren't as dense as I thought you were.

In the 1990s at least, either Shopko or Kmart used what were called "Caroline Codes" to alert employees to emergencies or spills. "Caroline Red to gardening" would mean someone was injured in the gardening dept, and so on.

[QUOTE=xquadrophenia;1122408]mm yeah i know its alert codes, but is there a meaning behind it?[/QUOTE]

are you wondering what those codes refer to? Elvis has left the building was what they would say at his concerts when he left so people wouldn't stick around hoping he'd come back for encores. So if there's a fire and "Elvis has left the building" then everyone else should get out too. Mr Cash/ security guard means someone is stealing some cash from them? Freight Check means the need to have someone make sure their "freight" isn't being looted?

Or are you wondering [i]why[/i] they were using codes? It's just a way to show how people can say one thing and mean something else.

I'm still kinda bewildered about that. Seemed like kind of obvious stuff to me but who knows. At least he didn't ask "What's with all the choking?"

Exactly.

Ass butt.

[QUOTE=xquadrophenia;1124721]nono, i meant why did Chuck use it them the book? i should really start expressing myself better.[/QUOTE]

why not use them? It's just part of the style he uses in most of his books, choruses.
Like the "I am Jack's ___" from Fight Club or the "Give me _____, Flash" from Invisible Monsters.
Nothing particularly profound about them, just a way to tell a more interesting story.

oh thanks.

Those codes are frequently mentioned in the book to get across the idea that so many life aspects are sugarcoated. Nothing is confronted like it should be. Things are hidden. Some things are either unknown, or discriminated against. So, we use codes to disguise the few unpleasantries that we don't bury as life goes on.

When I worked at Menards, if you thought someone was shoplifting you paged Mr. Green to the department.

Whenever I explain the premise of Choke to people they don't get it, I always get "Why would people send him money?"

The thing about them sending him money, well, it does make sense. To me anyways.

Only Victor (and Denny) knows that he is repeatedly pulling this stunt.

Let's just say, one time, you are in a restaurant and the guy next to you starts choking. You help him out, you stop him from choking, you dislodge the food, YOU SAVE HIS LIFE! People are so self-absorbed that they would consider this to be a personal victory, that they managed to save another human being. They wouldn't think "How terrible for that man, he nearly choked" they would think "Go me! I am the fuckin bomb! I saved that guy!"

So then, that man, that guy you saved, he represents your victory, he is the measure of your own success. So then what happens when you success story becomes.....unsuccessful? You want to keep that guy happy because it means his life was worth saving. Not because you want him to be happy but because it makes your story better. Because you can then add to the end of the story "And then he got a little down on his luck, so I sent him a few bucks" so that, reading between the lines, what you are really saying is, "Not only did I save his LIFE, I am also such a good guy that I'm sending him money too!"

And so that's what Victor does, over and over. Cashing in on other people's over-inflated ego's. Genius! Haha!