The Candy Dish

My sister in law called me the other day to ask my opinion and this has left me with lots of things to think about. She works as an administrative assistant at the communications office in another state agency and there has been a candy dish there that people really gravitate to. The normal traffic for this office comes from all walks of life, top administrators to front-liners and many visitors (reporters, lobbyists, etc). My SIL's concern is that she doesn't eat candy, therefore she hadn't bought any candy for long time and the dish has been empty for a while, but of course, people ask about it.

My wife used to work in that very position and every now and then would buy a bag of candy or chocolate, even though she would hardly ever eat any herself. I told my SIL that she should seriously consider finding a buck or two and buying candy for the dish, because the dish itself is part of the culture of the office in ways she does not even realize. There seems to be a general consensus that the candy may be just an excuse to drop in, but lots of formal and informal businesses get transacted around this candy dish. Seems like the candy dish has a deeper meaning to people than the obvious. I know in my own job there seems to be a place that people gravitate to or a cubicle that everyone knows you can stop in for their needs (Advil, a fork, a cup!) Is there such a place at your work?