In my workplace in the past week there have been controversies surrounding

1. The newsletter of the Krewe du Vieux, which apparently someone thought was offensive. I've seen their parade and their newsletter; I have no doubt it was offensive. And

2. King cake babies. King cakes are sugary coffee cakes covered with colorful icing. Some have flavored fillings as well. They are consumed frequently around Mardi Gras. Each king cake has a little plastic baby in it. Tradition holds that whoever gets the piece with the baby has to buy the next king cake. Some people have been eating the cake and not reporting their baby ownership, though. Or sticking the baby back in the cake, which is tantamount to spitting coffee back in the pot. This is a very big deal where I work.

Thing is, if I worked in Scranton or Omaha or Tulsa or some horrible place in the middle like that I wouldn't even understand what all that shit means, much less what all the hoo-hah is about. You gotta love this town.