Left behind by the laid off

Left behind by the laid off
Originally uploaded by Deluxx

About 60 people at my company were laid off a couple of weeks ago. The woman who had the awful task of cleaning out some of the offices couldn't bring herself to throw away some of the more personal items, so she put them out in a common area. Desk toys, mugs, CDs, books... I helped myself to these little windup toys; I felt they needed a new home. They now live on my desk.

Unfortunately, it is only a matter of weeks until my desk becomes significantly smaller. My group at work is going to be the guinea pigs -- sorry, pilot group -- for testing out the new "open plan" office space that everyone will enjoy in 2009. Soon I will give up my private office for a 5 x 2 desk in a large open space. The upside is that we will be issued bitchin' new state-of-the-art technology. Since my favorite color is "shiny," this is good news for me. It's my silver lining to a big cloud involving a complete lack of privacy, high levels of ambient noise, and a physical closeness to my coworkers that I am less than thrilled about. But more on that another day.

The point is, I am only foster mother to these windup toys, I think. I doubt I will have room for them on my new desk. I'll have to find a suitable new home. Feel free to submit an application, and be prepared for a home check.