Sadly, on Monday, the guy in the cube next to me was fired. I won't say who I work for or who the guy was, because there is probably some legal ramifications if I do. But, he had worked there for 3 years, and was probably the hardest worker in the office. He makes at least twice as many calls as I do on a daily basis, and 3 times as many calls as our top reps. (I'm in sales.)
Well, needless to say, we were all a little shook up and took a day to talk about it, about how delicately our jobs hang if we aren't hitting our numbers, about how much it sucks since this guy has 2 kids and the job situation in Michigan is less than stellar. Then today, one of the people in charge went into his vacated cube and threw away everything on the walls and in his desk drawers. Then, over the course of the rest of the day, it happened - if you have ever had an office job, you know what I am talking about here. It was a cube raid - people going in to see if his computer speakers were bigger and better than theirs so that they can upgrade, get his stapler and/or tape dispenser if they need one. One coworker was taking the plastic paper/file holder things off his desk. It was crazy. I think someone even took his business cards.
I have a confession to make - I used to be the guy who would lead this charge. I am an office supply whore. I used to have 4 staplers at my desk until I brought 2 of them home. I mean, until I put 2 of them back in the supply closet. But yes, I have endless supplies of push pins, staples, printer paper (don't ask), an extra 4 notepads just in case I run out, one of every color dry erase marker and an eraser, so many of those plastic things you are supposed to keep papers in that 2 of them don't even have anything in them, ball point pens, pens that click, magnets on my file cabinet - I could probably go on. I even have about 2 copies of every book we sell for some reason.
So I found myself surprised today that I didn't partake in the raid. Maybe it is a fear for my job, maybe I have stopped caring, maybe it is because he was in the cube next to me. But I couldn't do it today. I think it is because I just have too much stuff in my cube. Especially since all I do all day is look at the internet.
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3 comments:
Oooh, office supplies. Why do I love you so?
I'm an office supply whore, too. At my old job, we had this fantastic supply room and I LOVED going there "to pick up supplies for my department." That's my story and I'm sticking to it! I don't think I could participate in the cube raid, though. There's something about hoarding from the company that's more satisfying that taking from someone's personal stash.
My very favorite part of my job is that I am in charge of ordering the office supplies! Post it pop-ups, what a creation!
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