Afternoon Snack Anyone?
Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 3:05PM 
It's just about that time of day when my coworker says "what do you want from downstairs?" It's a universal event. The English have always called it tea-time, Americans call it "the afternoon snack."
Every new job presents its pros and cons; mostly pros, because if it was mostly cons then you'd still be at your old job! My new job is 95% pro. I love everything about it EXCEPT that it's a bit of a walk to get to our building from the general downtown area, and this distance also makes it difficult to find places to quickly grab lunch. My old job had a full food court downstairs, so this is a bit of a change - my old job also had free soda in the fridge. I'm not much of a soda drinker - I stay away from afternoon caffeine as a rule, and only indulge in the Diet Coke once in a blue moon. However, for as much as I did not partake in this work-a-day perk, I appreciated the gesture.
My new job does not offer free sodas (con) however it offers far better fare in the vending maching overall (pro pro pro.) How much better? Our vending maching is the chic-est automated food and drink dispenser ever. It's so chic that it turns itself off when people aren't using it so it saves energy - no lie! It runs on one of those motion-sensor things so it only turns on when someone's right in front of it.
But enough about how environmental it is, let's get down to the important stuff. It's true that we have the basic red-white-and-blue sodas like everyone else, but we also have Crystal Geyser Sparkling Water with Lemon, V-8, Starbucks Frappuccino, Orangina, and even Fresca. Yes, Fresca - when was the last time you saw a can of that? On the food side, we don't have the grody old bags of Doritos and what-not, we have tidy little sacs of Wheat Thins, trail mix, and even Milano cookies. Want something sweet? Yup - we have the usual suspects of Reese's, M&M's, Twix, etc...but we also have Milk Duds and my personal favorite Good & Plenty.
It really doesn't take a lot to make me happy. Crystal Geyser and Milk Duds in the vending machine are a good start. Talk about a pro...
Reader Comments (3)
First of all, licorice is the sophisticated candy. It's meant for people who drink whiskey (or sambucca), and enjoy their coffee black. It's bitter, yet sweet, and probably the only candy that fires up the umami receptors.
Good & Plenty is all this in a classically retro package of violet, pink, and white...what's not to love?
Of course, there's also the times when I dump the Good & Plenty out and it looks like a still life from "Valley of the Dolls"...
Good & Plenty = Mommy's Little Secret