In my office, it is ALWAYS someone's birthday. Or someone is retiring. Or someone got another degree, or got married, or had a baby. There is ALWAYS a reason to party and ALWAYS a reason to eat cake and ice cream. All of the newer people complain that they have gained weight since working here. Macon County's obesity rate is almost 30% and this is reflected almost everywhere you go, be that to the office, the library, or the grocery store. A very small number participated in the fitness challenge a few months ago, but no one turns down cake. Elevators take our cake-eating butts up and down the measly four flights of stairs and the parking spots closest to the building are coveted by all. Why can't we celebrate birthdays with watermelon and popcorn (NOT the movie theater butter kind)? I can't lie, I always eat the cake, but at least I turned down the ice cream.
Side note: Government offices are behind the times in everything from fashion to computer software. The PAPER! Paper files filling entire offices and storerooms, paper print outs of every meetings' agendas and minutes, etc. My vision of the future includes a tablet for every attorney and a smooth, updated programs for clerks and support staff to keep updated. Yes, the system might crash, but it is not difficult to find a reliable place to back-up the system. What if the building burns down with all the files? It will be harder to back up all of those paper files!
UPDATE: I decided that obesity rates would be an interesting addition to the community profile data. I have found a wonderful site on the CDC website where you can see interactive maps of obesity by state and county for every state in the United States. Macon County is a bright spot in the middle of Illinois. The only county in the state with an obesity rate of 29.7+. Go Macon County! We're Number One!!!
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