Just back from a visit to the local warehouse membership store where I stocked up a little on the personal size chocolate packs and some other candy to help fill the bowls in the office (both my own office and the bowls that I grab a few bars from every now and then).  In explaining to my wife, who was cautioning me now to eat all of the chocolate too quickly, that the bars weren't really for me, or at least not just for me, I told her the tales of co-workers that descend upon chocolate and free food like, hmmm, I'm not sure I even know who to compare these folks to

Anyway, like many offices and work places, there are always people that will be more than happy to share food with anyone else that brings it in, yet those same people will tend to be folks that don't seem to bring in much -- if any -- food to share with everyone else themselves.

I don't mean to cause trouble within the workplace, but I do get amused at the folks that find the chocolate as quickly as it comes in, sometimes forgetting their own manners (hell, frequently forgetting their own manners) as they grab a large handful of the candy and basically empty the bowl/jug/bin in one fell swoop.  It is as if some of these chocoholics never get anything to satisfy their sweet tooth, and when they do, they don't know how to behave themsevles and leave more for later.

One of my co-workers has been the supplier for most of the people in the work place.  He goes to Costco, BJs or Sams Club and stocks up on the candy then brings it in, puts it into a dish or bin in the office and watches it disappear.  Well, one of the last times he had done that he saw one of the other workers come in later and basically empty the dish by his lonesome.  It irritated the supplier so much that he basically determined that he wasn't going to supply the office with free candy any more.

Having been somewhat guilty of helping to empty my own favorites from that dish fairly quickly myself, I felt somewhat obligated to help refill it for a change.  Now, in my case, I am well known for bringing in cookies, candies, and other treats and sharing with with whomever wants some.  I also know that it's the same characters, repeatedly, that are the ones that help get rid of that food when I bring it in.  The same ones that help the candy in the suppliers office to disappear quickly.  In other words, it's the same people always living off of others in the work place.

What does this have to do with politics?  Oh, nothing really until you consider the work place a microcosm of society in general.  When you realize that my office is much like society where there are the same people continuing to feed society thanks to their own generousity.  People that contribute for everyone's enjoyment and benefit until they have had enough of watching a few people suck up the bulk of the benefit while everyone else continues working and only occassionally benefit themselves.

In the political arena, if the government doesn't suck up too much from the suppliers and providers, there should be enough to go around for all, but when you look a little closer you find that much of the society takes care of themselves while the same relatively lazy people live off the fat of the land as provided by everyone else.  Maybe some aren't that lazy, but they most certainly never seem to want to dig into their own wallets to buy for others, and typically do so only when forced.

As I told my wife, I had to laugh a bit at being as cruel and heartless as I was the other day when one of the regular chocoholics was roaming the hallways in the office place trying to sniff out food.  As that individual passed by they whimpered one of those "chocolate?" queries to which I answered that the local food stores had all that the individual could want and plenty to share if they bought some there.  Ohmigawd, the look on that individuals face was one of hurt, where perhaps there should have been some embarassment there instead.  On my face, well that look of cold cruel heartlessness that conservatives are known for :-}