In a couple of months, it will be a year since I last worked at my office. Since March 16, 2020, my office has been the same as my kitchen: A laptop, two screens, a mouse and a few notepads.
At some point, I'll return. I like working from home, but I'm confident that Mrs. Brad will vote for my return to the workplace. I don't blame her. She's worked from home for a while and likes solitude. Being in the house with someone who chats people up a lot is not solitude.
Frankly, I miss the office. Especially the office supplies.
We take them for granted because they're always there. Today, to kick off a new year and prepare for the eventual (perhaps) return to the office for those of us who work in offices and cubicles, I present the definitive ranking of office supplies:
10. Staples/Staplers. I presume they're expensive, but who knows? For more than 30 years, I've relied on my workplace to supply them. Before that, I relied on schools. Do staples cost $1 for a bunch or do they cost $100? I don't know.
9. Thumb tacks. Like staples, they're out of sight, out of mind. When needed, it's great to have a stash in a supply closet.
8. Mouses (mice?) and mouse pads. We take a computer mouse for granted until we need one. Then it's desperate. Most offices have IT people to (reluctantly) help, but it's convenient to have a graveyard of old mice that still work, like we do in the supply room at my office.
7. Printer paper. I don't use a printer much, but when I do, it's nice to not pay for the paper or the ink. But now that I think about it, maybe this choice should be "printer."
6. Highlighters. Want to highlight a document? If you're at home, you'll spend 15 minutes looking for that one, only to find that it is dry. At an office, you can always find a good highlighter.
5. Paper clips. They don't seem important until you need one and you probably don't have many sitting around. The variety of sizes for paper clips is an ongoing fascination for me. Jumbo-sized clips are fantastic.
4. Notebooks. Even though I do most of my work on a computer, I still write down ideas and keep track of processes. By the end of last May, I was looking around our house for partially used notebooks that I could use for work. If only we had a big supply closet!
3. Coffee. Nearly every office supplies coffee, therefore, it's an office supply. Many of us took it for granted until we had to keep making our own coffee every day. Coffee isn't cheap.
2. Post-it Notes. I love these and use them constantly. To write down ideas. To remind me who to contact for important information. To record predictions made by co-workers. My office is filled with Post-in Notes. At home? None. I miss them.
1. Pens. This is my office-supply weakness. Pre-pandemic, I traveled to about a half-dozen conferences per year and the main thing I brought back was a backpack filled with pens. I have a drawer-full at my office, but . . . they're all at my office. I didn't think the shutdown would last so long, so I didn't grab any. I lament their absence. Pens in my desk are great. Pens in the supply closet are still good. I love pens.
Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.
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