Some other Googler bloggers blog all the time about Google perks. I don't like doing that--makes me feel snotty. But at cocktail parties (okay, who am I kidding? I don't attend cocktail parties. While drinking beer at social events), non-Googlers will often question and ask about the cafeterias, the ball pit, and the snack bars everywhere. I can't be dishonest--the perks (the food, specifically) attracted me as much as the feel-good PR copy.

But among the best perks? Free gum.

I'm kind of a compulsive gum chewer. I know it's a trait more associated with valley girls than professional software engineers, but gum chewing is two things to me: a nervous habit, and a way to keep my mouth clean and fresh (that "just brushed clean feeling").

At the snack bars, there's always one drawer filled with packs of gum. In my case, it's like putting in a drawer full of cigarettes for nicotine-addicted smokers.

So I was tooling around the Internet this morning and saw this story on CNN:

Army considering combat chewing gum

It's chewing gum that's supposed to help soldiers in the field keep their teeth clean when they don't have access to toothbrushes. But it does sound like it would be great for my civilian life: to chew on during the day between brushings or maybe to take camping. If they'd put it in a drawer here, I could use it to prevent tooth decay from those wonderful, wonderful candy orange slices.