Saving an Incredibly Important Tradition

One of the coolest things that my company has been doing to boost morale and to thank its employees for their good work has been to provide Krispy Kreme doughnuts on the last workday of the month. I loved it so much that I even wrote about it once here. I work in the mortgage industry for my day job, and as the housing market is s-l-o-w these days, the company has taken a hit. You can imagine my horror when an e-mail came across my computer last month bearing the following grievous news:

One of our best traditions at _________ is promoting healthy living for our employees. We were at the forefront of this trend in the early 1980s, when we opened our first on-site fitness center, and we continued the tradition in the 1990s, when we began to offer healthy alternatives to the standard fast food fare in our own cafeterias. However, another _________ tradition has been to offer free doughnuts at month-end to thank employees for their hard work.

You can see that this tradition is an extremely unhealthy temptation and doesn't contribute to a healthy lifestyle. The typical small glazed doughnut contains 200 calories, half of which are from fat. Doughnuts are high in sugar and carbohydrates. They are considered "empty calories" that don't make you feel full for very long. We're not alone in our concern about unhealthy foods - other companies, and especially schools, are taking similar steps to reduce or eliminate high-fat or unhealthy food alternatives.

While we believe in personal choice, we also feel we need to take responsibility for helping our employees lead healthy lifestyles....

Um, okay, whatever. Really, I understand that the mortgage industry is taking a hit, but please don't lie to me. Don't condescend. Just tell me you can't afford to buy us our beloved Krispy Kremes anymore. (Thanks for letting me get that out!)

Today, in honor of it being the last day of the month, my group is having a breakfast potluck. There is a veritable smorgasbord of food being laid out as I write this post. Can you guess what I brought?

Doughnuts!