19 November, 2008

Not rocket science

Another 'refinement' of the working environment introduced when we moved into an open-plan office was that the cleaners no longer empty the bin by each desk.  Instead, we use our individual bins as required, then empty them ourselves into larger communal bins, sorting the contents as confidential paper, ordinary paper, and 'general' waste.

The shared bins have lids with access holes; narrow slots for the paper bins and a ~10 cm wide slot for the other one. It's unpleasant to have to pick up yesterday's teabags and drop them in by hand, so I routinely remove the whole lid and tip in the contents of my bin.

I've just been called a 'genius' for the third time, for exhibiting basic lateral thinking. Others evidently don't even see an alternative to the designers' intended technique.