"Happy Everything to Everyone!" Adventures in Corporate America

To pay my bills right now, I work several jobs, one of which involves the occasional on-site meeting in a very corporate environment. Today included such a meeting, complete with a 12:30 break for cake (hah, that rhymes) in the Career Services department. At 12:34 exactly, a straggler knocked on the conference room door. 

"Oh, is it...time?" my supervisor said. 

My stomach was growling for real food, and I just wanted to get through the meeting as quickly as possible so as to obtain said real food, but I mean, I'm just the lowly hired ghost-writer. And who am I to turn down free cake anyway? 12:30 is just a really awkward time for baked goods.

When we walked down the hall, there was a substantial crowd gathered about a substantial cake on which was written: HAPPY 27th ANNIVERSARY MARY BETH, LESLIE, JOHN and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRY. 

5 candles, which Terry himself blew out as everyone clapped. Wax flew

"Happy everything to everyone!" Leslie sang, a hint of sarcasm in her voice (love her). 

 Terry's vibrant handling of the knife kind of reminded me of me at my twenty-first birthday party (see above), but that's another entry for another day. 

What really got me was how excited (!) everybody was to have cake in the middle of the workday. Like, wow. On the one hand, I wish that did it for me, but on the other...

My supervisor joked that instead of food, maybe the company should commemorate stuff by handing around cigarettes and letting employees get the hell outside for a few minutes. Those weren't her exact words, but cigarettes were mentioned in that context. 

I know that when I've worked regularly in offices, I've made sure to take "imaginary cigarette" breaks. Sometimes you just need to get the hell outside. Why do you need a carcinogenic excuse? 

I'm not putting down birthday cake—I had a few bites of the frosting, and it was pretty good. It just bummed me out to see so many adults so excited about it. 

There's a whole slew of studies and info out there about how you eat more in groups and at celebrations, and I can only imagine how it could add up if you work in a company with a lot of employees where you're expected to "participate" in office activities. That can be a lot of pressure, regularly having multi-layered cakes languishing in front of you, taunting, participate...eat me...

I guess the same goes for co-workers with candy jars or people who leave sweets in break rooms, etc. Some people have a hard time saying no even when they should be making more of an effort to say yes to healthy foods that will actually give them energy to get through their day.

Still, it kind of took me back to snack time in kindergarten, which is a much more functional practice that totally shouldn't have gotten taken out of the agenda after the age of 6. As adults, our perception of what a snack is can be pretty warped. When did juice and crackers give way to monmouth pastries and sugary drinks?

I also wish we could bring nap time back. And recess. I think that would do us all some good. Getting enough rest and outdoor time makes for a happier, more efficient worker, in my humble opinion. 

Nothing says "Good Morning!" like a Diet Coke?

So I have this tendency towards drinking Diet Coke in the morning the way some people drink coffee or tea. I get it from my dad, who likes to start this day with something carbonated...

For years I did this until one morning this fall I just kind of woke up and decided I was ready to stop. It's been tough adjusting, but I usually do all right just having a cup of green tea instead. 

Some mornings, though, like on rainy Mondays, it's just not the same. This morning as I walked towards the subway to work I wondered, as I often do, if I should stop by that deli next door to the office...No. Yes. No. Maybe? 

Eventually, I just decided that not spending the $1.50 was a good enough excuse for me today. I'd also slipped some green tea in my purse to make during the day if I got sleepy. Having a back-up helps. 

The back-and-forth in my head, though, did get me thinking about the great debate that goes on about diet soda and artificial sweeteners in general.

There's so much conflicting information. Some studies claim it leads to obesity, cancer, and a host of other ailments like diabetes.  However, some claim it doesn't have that much of an effect if you don't consume too much of it. A study performed at the University of California San Francisco suggests that diet soda may actually help reduce the risk of forming kidney stones. 

It's hard to say which sources are worth listening to and which ones aren't. It's dizzying trying to keep up with it. I feel like if there's this much uncertainty, though, maybe that's a sign. 

The reason I cut back and stopped keeping diet soda in the house is that I can't just have a little bit. I could drink an entire two-liter bottle all by myself and then go looking for more. After a while I started thinking about how many chemicals I was taking in, and it creeped me out enough to convince me to try going without it. After the first week, it was pretty easy. 

Still, sometimes it's a nice treat, and if I'm paying (way too much) for an individual can, I actually can just stop at one. 

Sheesh, you'd think I was talking about alcohol or something...