The office supply order came in today. To evidence how much of a geek I am, it always feels like Christmas to me when I open that delivery box and can unpack all of the goodies we’ve received.
I have always loved ordering office supplies. It was when I was working as an office manager at a brand-new-yet-to-be-opened nursing home that I experienced office supply nirvana. I was tasked with ordering all of the office supplies to get the facility set up. We had a contract with Viking Office Supplies (now owned by Office Depot) and since I didn’t have a catalog yet, I got to spend gloriously fun filled hours (yes, more than one hour) ordering the office supplies with the poor customer service person, telling him what I needed to order and him looking up the information in their database. While that in itself was nearly pure bliss, it didn’t hold a candle to the day the order arrived. My entire office was filled with boxes. Cardboard encased Valhalla. It was one of the single best moments of my professional life.
Currently there are no less than two drawers, three bags and a couple plastic storage containers full of office supplies at my house. Not just the usual stuff like sticky notes or pens but also stationery type things such as cool postcards or funky stationery. Going to an office supply store causes me to experience a contact high from all the paper products and cool scissors and rainbow hued pens. I am truly a geek of the lowest order.
While I’m perfectly content at the mega-stores like Staples, it is the small local stationery store where I am happiest. They always have the interesting office supplies like colored staples, strangely patterned paper and oddball greeting cards.
Alas, these stores have been slowly going by the wayside under the onslaught of the aforementioned mega-stores. It’s become increasingly difficult to find a smaller stationery store anymore. Time and time again, I am bereft when I drive by places where I used to find the most fascinating things only to see the signs changed or the doors shuttered. But I shall persevere. Someone has to seek out unique office supplies and keep office supply geekdom alive. Might as well be me.
I have always loved ordering office supplies. It was when I was working as an office manager at a brand-new-yet-to-be-opened nursing home that I experienced office supply nirvana. I was tasked with ordering all of the office supplies to get the facility set up. We had a contract with Viking Office Supplies (now owned by Office Depot) and since I didn’t have a catalog yet, I got to spend gloriously fun filled hours (yes, more than one hour) ordering the office supplies with the poor customer service person, telling him what I needed to order and him looking up the information in their database. While that in itself was nearly pure bliss, it didn’t hold a candle to the day the order arrived. My entire office was filled with boxes. Cardboard encased Valhalla. It was one of the single best moments of my professional life.
Currently there are no less than two drawers, three bags and a couple plastic storage containers full of office supplies at my house. Not just the usual stuff like sticky notes or pens but also stationery type things such as cool postcards or funky stationery. Going to an office supply store causes me to experience a contact high from all the paper products and cool scissors and rainbow hued pens. I am truly a geek of the lowest order.
While I’m perfectly content at the mega-stores like Staples, it is the small local stationery store where I am happiest. They always have the interesting office supplies like colored staples, strangely patterned paper and oddball greeting cards.
Alas, these stores have been slowly going by the wayside under the onslaught of the aforementioned mega-stores. It’s become increasingly difficult to find a smaller stationery store anymore. Time and time again, I am bereft when I drive by places where I used to find the most fascinating things only to see the signs changed or the doors shuttered. But I shall persevere. Someone has to seek out unique office supplies and keep office supply geekdom alive. Might as well be me.
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