You're In the Googleplex Now
After a yearlong Army deployment to Iraq, how does it feel to enter Google's bubble of notoriously cushy working conditions, stateside? It's as disorienting as you might think, reports public affairs specialist Dale Sweetnam, now embedded with Google.
Sweetnam, who is still in the Army but enrolled a special training program, wrote that his head was "still spinning" after a month at Google. No drills! No schedules! And suddenly he's having to wrestle with lava lamps. And familiarize himself with the very un-Army concept of adult "recess:":
Our wonderful facilities manager teamed up with the Google chef (yes, we actually have a chef) and put on a "Recess at Work" event for the office. The afternoon included square pizzas, chicken nuggets, juice boxes, four square and dodgeball.
Not that it's all fun and games; Sweetnam helped launch a system allowing military families to send audio care packages to servicemen and women via Google Voice. He's also meeting with veteran's groups and pitching the media on charity-related stories. Take his call! Everyone begrudges some entitled Googlers their hot fudge sundaes, but who can resist a man in uniform, with a service record and a juice box?