The Candy Man Can

Ah, the glorious melody from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory plays in my head. I love candy. I have developed a sweet tooth. And as explained in my previous post, I am trying to curb that devil tooth into craving broccoli versus anything covered in chocolate or in cookie form.

This week I have actually been good. I have been eating healthier (minus the handful of Swedish Fish) and had an amazing workout* at the gym last night. So today in celebration I decided I would treat myself to a single serving size of peanut M&Ms from the vending machine. I mean, I deserve it, right? I probably burned 700+ calories last night and I have been working my tail off this week - coming in early & taking time off my lunches.

The moment of anticipation mounted as I waited until after 10am to get my special treat. I pulled a crisp dollar bill from my wallet, hopped in the elevator and made my way to the vending machine. Only to find out that the price of my beloved was now 95cents - GASP! My reaction was mixed - was this His way of telling me to skip the treat? How could the vending machine people have the audacity to raise the cost - its like amusement type prices up in this bitch! But after all of my griping, my practical side did succumb to the devil tooth. I did have an entire dollar so I could afford it.

That didn't stop me from bitching about it to my co-workers. I told anyone that would listen. And when I finally got to Dani her response floored me:

"Yea, its due to the candy tax"

"Ex-squeeze me?!? First the smokers & now the fat people." I remarked in disbelief.

She - someone that actually pays attention to State affairs - knew about this bill that Governor Pat Quinn signed enacting a tax on candy effective September 1. Although I believed her, I still looked it up. Google produced 2.1 million articles on it - granted I bet only the first couple hundred are written about Illinois but still. That is a lot of mutha-fecking articles. Here, read for one for yourself. It is the most bizarre law - candy as actual food? WTF. I'll have to check the packaging on Skittles & Swedish Fish to see if they have any flour in it to avert this new tax. Or I could just stop eating candy altogether. I'll plan on the later but I doubt that will last.

Also you'll find that not only is the tax on candy, its on something much more important. Beer. Again, alcohol gets the brunt of the state-wide financial crisis. In addition to beer & candy: hair products. Totally random.

Illinois is not the only state in the Union that is having financial difficulties. We are in red. WAY in the red. There is no money for the public schools, transportation or service. No. Money. Period. Yet, the Mayor is more than content to get the Olympics in Chicago. Although this is a totally different topic of conversation/debate, I will put my two-cents in. Feel free to disagree, but I find it horrifying that in the midst of our financial crisis we are trying to obtain an extremely costly world event. An event, that unlike other countries up for the bid, the citizens will have to pay versus the government backing the costs. This cost will fall onto the shoulders of the native Chicagoans to pay through taxes. Ok, I've said my peace.

Anywho, what the Mayor should be doing is building a casino on the lake - tax the hell out of that, leave my beer & candy alone.


*I took a new class at the gym: Cardio Kickboxing. It was unlike any kickboxing class I had been in before. I can not wait to wear my heart rate monitor to see how many calories I actually burn!