Vay-cay: [vey-key] a mocking phrase used in lieu of ‘intermission’ to remind audiences that they could be doing other things with their time.
Some say disappointment doesn’t sell; others feel that, if you can enumerate the various things in people’s lives that could be better, they’ll be motivated to work harder to achieve them. Presenters from the latter category tend to be ruthless with their verbiage and imagery on stage, and it is these stern leaders that prefer calling breaks vay-cays.
As a word, vay-cay started out innocently enough. Clearly, saying the word vacation was getting especially tedious for a large group of individuals—especially since the only time people talk about vacations is while they are at work. Prior to vay-cay, people wasted countless milliseconds enunciated the final tion sound. Now, productivity in America soars, although in an ironic twist none of us have gotten any more vacation time at our jobs.
The word’s eventual ubiquity made it a natural colloquialism for delivering quick-draw disappointment on stage. At a moment’s notice, authoritarians had the ability to simultaneously thrill audiences with the promise of potty time and coffee, while still beating them down with the realization that while they sit in a windowless building listening to lectures, other people are frolicking on pristine white sand beaches and twirling in the refreshing ocean spray of Pacific waves. For leaders in the Disappointment School of Management, a movement that upholds the value of mass dissatisfaction, vay-cay became a truly valuable weapon: now, they could finally be both gregarious and brutal, the long sought after combination perfected by Hannibal, who after leading his men to victory over the Roman army, had the unique pleasure of informing them that yes, they would now need to go back over the Himalayas if they wanted to see their families again.
The Takeaway: Take special care to make your presentation as entertaining and valuable as possible so that audience members are not forced to wander off into dream sequences that are sure to disappoint.
