I work in a cubicle. It turns out that over 80% of the world’s white-collar workers do their service in cubicles. How depressing is that?
The girl in the cubicle next to me had an unexpected visitor today. Her trash can was making noise, which is never a good sign. Upon further inspection, it was not the can making noise, but what was inside of the can…a mouse.
I would try to describe to you what happens when an office filled with women find a mouse in a trash can, but there are simply no words that can describe the sound. There is screeching. There is some gagging. But, mostly there are heeled footsteps moving as quickly away from the culprit.
Why we are so frightened of something the size of a Snicker’s bar is beyond me.
The mouse was quickly removed from the premises. However, a discussion has arisen about how to deal with mice in the future. The traditional traps cannot be used underneath cubicles without breaking toes in the process. Here are some of the ideas that I have offered:
- Everyone can wear leopard-print Snuggies at their desk (see my Snuggie post). This way, the mouse will think he is in the jungle and run for his life.
- We could leave a trail of cheese leading into the shredder bin. The people that shred all the confidential stuff may not appreciate that much, though.
- The office could use a pet. We could get a cat that would take care of all of the mice. But, then it would always be purring and wanting attention and giving me dirty looks. We already have enough of that in the office.
- With proper training, we could get the mouse to perform administrative tasks. It seems to me that a mouse would be wonderful at removing staples…with the teeth and all.
- Management. Let’s face it. That mouse has management written all over it.
Well, those ideas may not work. But, I will say this. The mouse has offered some excitement to an otherwise uneventful day. Thank you, Senor Mouse. Your hard work and ingenuity in climbing into that trash cans has not gone unnoticed.
