Candy Bandit

My love affair with junk food is well documented. I’m not huge into candy or anything, just junk in general. Chips, cookies, french fries - - full-fledged crap. I try to resist the siren song of the Sun Chips, but occasionally I fall a lumpy victim to their crunchy cries.

My boss at work, the VP of marketing, keeps a dish of bite-sized candies on his desk, he readily admits, to draw employees in to chat with him. He keeps the good kind, too - - mini-Snickers and little Milky Ways. I always eye them, but never take from the bowl. I have no problem feeding the break room vending machine money for its fruit chews, but for some reason won’t eat a piece of chocolate free for the taking.

However, one day I really, really wanted a piece of chocolate. I’m not a sugar addict or anything, but I cave easily to cravings, especially at work. They can distract me from creating masterful copy. Heh. So, I dug into my giant laptop bag/purse for my wallet only to find twenties and a pocket full of pennies. No machine-ready bills or coins. I refilled my water glass and tried to forget about it.

I went back to my product descriptions, trying to decide which adjectives worked best, when the mingling of soft caramel and puffy nougat consumed my brain. I bit my tongue, but soon remembered the dish of bite-sized candy bars in the VP’s office. Ooh, he had just the candy I wanted, no coins needed, sitting at the ready on his desk. I made my way over even when I remembered he was out of town. They were two steps from the door, which was wide open, so I kept going. I saw that the office was empty, strode in and grabbed a single piece from the bowl, then spun on my heels when the overheard lights came on. I dropped the mini-Snickers and jumped backwards, hands in the air. I thought I’d been busted by the candy cops. I learned that day that some office lights where I work come on when a sensor notices movement in the room.

I ate the candy, but it was disappointing after my little scare.