As you may know, Google’s Matt Cutts regularly answers questions submitted by users via videos uploaded to Google’s Webmaster Central YouTube Channel. Usually the questions and answers are helpful tips and explanations regarding the workings of Google and how webmasters can better accomplish some goal related to their sites’ performance in the search engine.
Occasionally, however, Matt will answer different kinds of questions, and sometimes more fun ones. This one falls into that category. Recently, one user submitted the question:
What is the most common running gag over there at Google?
While one might hope to hear some wild frat-like hazing stories about Google’s workforce, Matt doesn’t share anything too crazy, but his responses are kind of amusing nonetheless.
Matt says that one really common running gag at Google is referred to as the “Google 15”. This is in reference to the approximately 15 pounds a lot of Google employees gain within their first few months with the company.
“Whenever you join Google,” he says, “you realize there’s fantastic, great food, and you start to eat it, and it’s free, so you don’t have to stop eating it.”
Eventually, he says, they realize that it’s free and it will “still be there tomorrow,” so they don’t have to eat it all at once. He also notes that Google has gyms and other activities that employees can participate in that will help them lose some of the weight.
Another gag at Google according to Matt, is that sometimes people talk about a space elevator being built, and nobody’s ever really sure if it’s a joke or not, because there are a lot of “science geeks” at the company.
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