We’ve all lost a sock or two to our clothes dryer. But how many of us have actually resorted to line drying our socks to avoid the occasional odd pair? This is what my office mate Trudy does. Rather than risk the wrath of that mysterious sock monster in the dryer, Trudy line dries all of her socks. Sure, it’s environmentally responsible, but practical? Not so much, especially when it results in lost productivity to others like it once did at the office.
It was a rainy Friday morning, one of those days that even an umbrella does little to help. Everyone walked into the office a little damp that day. But I don’t think any of us actually thought to use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process. For one thing, none of us keep a hair dryer at our desk (or a barometer, a thermometer, a space heater, an electric cup warmer….). Except for Trudy.
Trudy walked into the office about a half hour after I arrived at work, and about two hours after the Old Joe. A few minutes later, I recognized a familiar sound. As a matter of fact, it was the same sound that I heard in my bathroom earlier that morning. It was the sound of a hair dryer.
Now as someone who uses a hair dryer just about every day, I know a thing or two about their power. There have been several mornings where my roommate and I blow a fuse after using our hair dryers simultaneously. So I knew it was only a matter of time before Trudy’s hair dryer elicited the same response.
The dryer went off for a moment and then started again. At exactly the moment that the dryer fired up for a second time, my computer screen went blank. So did the screens of the eight other people who share our bank of cubicles and, therefore, our power source. Trudy’s hair dryer blacked us out. I hadn’t really starting working yet so the black out came as nothing more than a hilarious way to start my day, but for Old Joe, who lost about two hours worth of work, it served as both an irritant and a reminder to always save your work.
A memo was sent to all staff the day of Trudy’s Hair Dryer Incident, as it will forever be called, reminding us that hair dryers are not to be used at our workstations. (A ridiculous memo to be sure, almost as ridiculous as the one reminding us to wear shoes at the office. Our HR Manager does God’s work). So now, when Trudy comes to work with damp socks, she dries her socks in the only part of the office sanctioned for those types of small appliances, the ladies’ room.
It was a rainy Friday morning, one of those days that even an umbrella does little to help. Everyone walked into the office a little damp that day. But I don’t think any of us actually thought to use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process. For one thing, none of us keep a hair dryer at our desk (or a barometer, a thermometer, a space heater, an electric cup warmer….). Except for Trudy.
Trudy walked into the office about a half hour after I arrived at work, and about two hours after the Old Joe. A few minutes later, I recognized a familiar sound. As a matter of fact, it was the same sound that I heard in my bathroom earlier that morning. It was the sound of a hair dryer.
Now as someone who uses a hair dryer just about every day, I know a thing or two about their power. There have been several mornings where my roommate and I blow a fuse after using our hair dryers simultaneously. So I knew it was only a matter of time before Trudy’s hair dryer elicited the same response.
The dryer went off for a moment and then started again. At exactly the moment that the dryer fired up for a second time, my computer screen went blank. So did the screens of the eight other people who share our bank of cubicles and, therefore, our power source. Trudy’s hair dryer blacked us out. I hadn’t really starting working yet so the black out came as nothing more than a hilarious way to start my day, but for Old Joe, who lost about two hours worth of work, it served as both an irritant and a reminder to always save your work.
A memo was sent to all staff the day of Trudy’s Hair Dryer Incident, as it will forever be called, reminding us that hair dryers are not to be used at our workstations. (A ridiculous memo to be sure, almost as ridiculous as the one reminding us to wear shoes at the office. Our HR Manager does God’s work). So now, when Trudy comes to work with damp socks, she dries her socks in the only part of the office sanctioned for those types of small appliances, the ladies’ room.
1 comment:
Having spent nearly an entire Saturday last week mating odd socks which got lost in the washing process, I have a great deal of sympathy for Trudy. But it is very bad office politics to blow a fuse.
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