My longtime acquaintances 'the pepper girls' were having a lively discussion the other day and one of them was sketching what looked like a floor plan.
I could not resist asking them what it was all about.
To my surprise the 'sketching' one told me she was offering advice to her friend on the best spot where to put your garbage bin when you know that the person in charge of your basket/bin is about to show up.
This obviously applies only to corporate creatures like her as mere mortals like me empty their own garbage…
I was a bit puzzled that the topic of office garbage pickup would warrant so much time, energy and attention to detail.
My 'pepper girl' attention to this issue was prompted by the fact that the janitor/ cleaning person in charge of that task in her digs always showed up while she was having lunch at her desk.
She felt intruded upon.
Her solution was to park the guilty bin outside her door.
Did it dissuade the cleaning person to pop in?
I am not sure.
Margaret Oakley at the NDRC office in Santa Monica looks at the subject from a different angle.
She suggests that An Office's Trash is a Garden's Treasure (Switchboard, February 9).
A small company named IST Energy came up with the idea to Turn trash into energy in your office parking lot (CNET News, January 19).
With them, your office overflow gets turned into heat and electricity…
More trash equals more power?
Maybe I have to reopen the conversation with the 'pepper girl' and unveil these hidden benefits.
Garbage etiquette and corporate culture for Monday Work Etiquette # 78
Previously: Penny Foolish or Penny Wise? Round it Up or Down?