Unanimous vote

At work we have "aisle parties" in our department. Each month the inhabitants of the cubicles along a particular aisle plan some type of fun/celebration activity. This month Aisle E, my aisle, decided to build on theme of the Iowa State Fair, which is taking place this week. So we hosted "An E-fair to remember."

Each office was decorated in some fashion or became an exhibit, such as a petting zoo or a fortune teller or a talent stage and so on. And we also sponsored a number of contests, such as guessing the number of corn kernels in a jar or guessing the weight of one of my co-workers (note - this was guessing the weight of all the "stuff" in her cluttered office, not her personal weight).

For some reason I just can't understand, I was nominated to be the World's Biggest Bore (those familiar with the Iowa State Fair will understand the play on the word Bore). This was a unanimous vote! So I plastered my office with pictures of the grandchildren ("Ask me about my grandkids!!!) and hooked to my belt a leather holster holding my slide rule. I was not successful in finding a pocket protector, so my costume was not quite complete.

We turned this into a project to help the local food bank with a contest to see which aisle would contribute the most canned goods or money. And we had a number of competitions for prizes, including a coin toss into glass dishes, cow races on a Wii system, and a balloon sculpting contest. We capped off the week with a variety of different types of "food on a stick" (okay, on toothpicks) and my world famous dry ice root beer (this was our alcohol-free beer tent). We raised about $300 for the food bank and had a great time.

In today's economy with so much concern about jobs and finances, it is great to work for a company and with co-workers that care about people and having some fun. Somehow the Iowa State Fair just won't seem the same this year.

In starting my reign as the World's Biggest Bore, let me take a few moments to say how proud I am to represent the people of the state of Iowa and to mention several accomplishments ... (by the way, did I tell you about my grandchildren???).