Workplace shenanigans

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 Permalink

I rarely talk about my work or my workplace. And that’s for a few reasons; but predominantly because I work for a government agency so am conscious of what I say and do publicly (in ways which could relate to my job. Obviously I’m happy to swear a lot and confess to embarrassing foibles, cos well… unless I enter politics, no one would really care about that!). In addition there’s not that much to talk about… ‘blah blah blah, public servant, blah blah blah.’ Etc.

But today I thought I’d share a little titbit about my place of employment which has me kinda intrigued.

And from the title I bet you think I’m about to launch into some tale of post Office Christmas party exploits or other similarly sordid happenings. And, well… sorry about that…. this is not THAT kind of post.

I should start by saying that my workplace (as in the building itself) is AMAZING. We have great facilities and huge lunchrooms and kitchens (rare in government when you’re usually required to eat at your desk or outside). We’re located in a 6-star energy rated building which is quite new and constantly being monitored for improvements by the building’s owners.

And about two months ago a little shelf appeared just outside of the female toilets on my floor.

Not so amazing you might think. But in fact it’s friggin’ wonderful! I am assuming (and am sure I must be right, cos I am never ever wrong), that it’s there for we gals to put our crap on, rather than lug it into the loo with us. Some people do care about hygiene. Apparently. The fact that similar shelves aren’t outside the gents’ toilets is a tad perplexing, but I won’t worry myself about that for now. Perhaps it was planned for handbags or other girlie essentials, though frankly I mostly use it for my water bottle and the like.

Because I am a dedicated public servant, I beaver away at my desk and plan my forays around our floor strategically. (Or… it could be said I’m lazy and put off doing things until I really have to!) So by the time my water bottle is empty (I drink a lot of water), I’m usually desperate to visit the loo (and so forth). And although I have been known to regularly very rarely take my iPhone into the loo to surreptitiously check Twitter and Facebook*, I would prefer not to take my water bottle with me. And… now we have a fabulous shelf outside of the facilities, so I can dump my water bottle there until I come out and go directly to the cold water fountain to fill it up – thereby maintaining my efficient working operations (and only having to make one trip around the floor!).

HOWEVER… within a day or two of the wee shelf (hee hee) appearing, a few additional items started popping up. Initially they were changed every day or two and I suspect some of us thought it a little joke of sorts. And yet, these ‘things’ are still there.

Can I just say.... WTF?!?

I’m pretty sure most of us are nervous about asking anyone else who the fuck is responsible in case we insult the culprit generous benefactor. And I’m sure they haven’t been removed by senior management for fear of offending anyone or perhaps, being seen to judge others’ taste!

Now niceties aside, is it just me, or is it odd for grown women (or men, I guess) to be placing such items in a workplace’s public space? I mean, I’m sure some staff have tragic cute little thingys on their own desks, but for someone to put such crap in adorn a public space in a work environment is just kinda freaky.

Isn’t it?

*Of course I am joking… I would never really take my iPhone into a bathroom of any kind. Really. Truly.


 

4 Comments
  • loulou
    March 14, 2012

    Hi Deb,

    now the power ranger/star wars thingies need to be removed so you can get your crap back up there on said shelf.

    Perhaps place bluetac on the base of each one and place then on top of each partition wall top separating each cubicle.

    but perhaps first – make little paper napkin dresses and bikini tops for the manly looking creatures to keep in the context with ladies restrooms.

    Have a wonderful day,

    loulou, hereiamloulou blog 

    x

    • Debbish
      March 15, 2012

      God loulou, then I’d be encouraging the culprits! Am hoping the damned things just disappear…. but never fear I still put my crap on the shelf, even with the storm troopers etc in the way!

  • Neen
    March 15, 2012

    Deb I have to say that I love this! I love that someone has been so quirky! It kind of reminds me of my own (Govt Dept) office. Down in our foyer, the girl who works the concierge desk hangs a Ninga Turtle from the flower display every day. Each night she packs the turtle up and then each morning she puts him back out again. Makes me laugh 🙂

    • Debbish
      March 15, 2012

      I think it’s funnier that no one has removed them… When the shelf was first installed some zen-looking stones appeared, then disappeared. Then a couple of knick knack things and finally these. Someone keeps moving the paper boat thing about I notice as sometimes the characters are in it.

      I must confess to doing an ‘eye-roll’ whenever I see them… but one day I did this thing I read about in another blog (I think it was about a Happiness Project) and it was about ‘making’ someone else’s day (or at least making them smile). So even though I’m not into that stuff I did as suggested and I wrote on a post-it note (SMILE, COS YOU’RE AWESOME) and stuck it on the mirror in the loo and wondered who’d see it and how they’d react. (I have no idea on either count as no one ever mentioned it!)

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