Candy jar can win you friends — and maybe a raise, too

By Larry Ballard

Work is sweet, thanks to jar maids.

Almost every office has a worker (usually a woman) with a community candy jar.

A national survey by the makers of LifeSavers (the candy, not the flotation devices) explores how employees who keep candy dishes on their desks are treated in the workplace.

Pretty darn well, it turns out.

For starters, 60 percent of them got raises last year, compared with fewer than half of us who mooch.

Every office has at least one person who keeps a jar of candy that everyone else reaches for to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Here at The Des Moines (Iowa) Register, we have more than one, which probably explains why we pay double for dental coverage.

But I'm thinking of one jar-keeper in particular. I don't want to embarrass this person, so I'll identify her by her initials, which are V.i.v.i.a.n. S.a.n.t.a.n.g.e.l.o.

Co-workers flock to her dish like crows to the Dumpster behind a fast-food joint. Even the squawking is similar.

Her dish is responsible for numerous smiles and much happiness — not to mention the one head cold that has made about 20 laps around the newsroom since the start of cold and flu season.

She keeps the supply stocked with popular foil-wrapped chocolates to reflect the season: little hearts at Valentine's, eggs at Easter and bite-size ghosts for Halloween.

What would we be without her? Besides several pounds lighter, I mean. Well, the folks at LifeSavers have concluded that we would be at each other's throats.

"We know the candy dish is a fun part of life, but what the results of the survey have shown us is that candy dishes offer employees a simple, enjoyable way to break through everyday office obstacles and keep the lines of communication open," said Barry Sands, who is LifeSavers' "brand manager."

I guess I never looked at it that way, which is to say that I'm not crazy.

Truth is, and Vivian (oops) will tell you: Most people just look at it as free candy. What else would make them circle her desk like a pack of dingoes whenever she breaks open a new bag of mini Krackel bars?

"I'm about fifty bucks in the hole, and I'm trying to buy a house," she told me in an exclusive interview.

The survey of 1,290 people showed that 70 percent of co-workers will dip into the community candy stash, but only about 20 percent bother to help refill it.

The pollsters also created a profile of the office sugar daddy, who is usually, they say, a sugar mommy.

The typical dish-keeper is:

• Female.

• Married.

• 35 or older.

• A pet owner. (This would explain the occasional hair on the Tootsie Rolls.)

• Republican. (Red is a candy color; blue is for cough drops.)

These people deserve some recognition. They need their own national day. Heck, let's give 'em a week.

And let's dig deep to help them keep the happiness coming. Because it's through their effort that the rest of us are able to enjoy our jobs just a little bit more.

To the jar-keepers out here, I offer a hearty "thank you," and this nugget of advice: Bit-O-Honey.

And for planning purposes, Thursday is National Chocolate-Covered Cashews Day.

Larry Ballard writes for The Des Moines Register.