Paperworked

Like it or not, it's here to stay. Today, in lieu of actually teaching a class, I was stationed at the local office to get some paperwork out of the way. The term paperwork, in this case, carries more than the usually singular meaning of filling out and filing forms. Today, I was papered.

Over the course of two years, you tend to accumulate a whole lot of stuff. Not the least of which are the seemingly-important company memos that you receive. For fear of tripping and breaking an ankle in a policy loophole, I kept every piece of paper ever handed to me while working for my company. I have a closet that, until today, was dedicated to housing all that sheet.

But my days here are now very briefly numbered. Considering that I'm coming home for two and a half weeks in December, I have less than an entire work-month left in my contract before I'm thrown into the fray of my Asian adventure. And that paper needed a new home. To my delight, I discovered that the plastic bags in the paper shredder were now transparent, (hopefully) to indicate an intention to recycle the kilograms of paper that leave the office in confetti form every day. It was time.

I arrived at the office with three huge plastic shopping bags of old notes, faxes, obsolete agendas and outdated policies. And charged with my task of cleaning house, I shredded. I shredded a cathartic shred for every handout I was forced to read and file over the last two years. I managed to condense my hold to a tiny pile, and much of that is being handed over to someone needing printer paper - one side of some sheets were blank and ready to be used again - while the rest of it is currently being reintegrated into the recycled paper market.

It's not all fun and games, you know. I occasionally run the risk of a pretty serious paper cut if I'm not careful. Today, I escaped from the office unscathed.

December is update-a-day month! To read all the posts this month, click on December 2006 on the right-hand side of the screen!