At some time in the relatively recent history of my workplace, a decision was made that no employee may have a bin at his or her desk. Instead, there are strategically placed flip-top bins around the floor that allow everyone to share a bit of a bin. The original decision caused much angst about the place, to the point that some people now hide their own teensy bins inside their desk drawers and filing cabinets. I don't engage in such workplace deceit (mainly because my drawers and filing cabinets are full of paperwork that probably could be thrown out, but which I couldn't be bothered taking to the bin). In fact, I actually support the theory of no desk-side bins. However, the practice really shits me. As can be seen from the picture, the communal bin is approximately three metres from my desk. That means I don't get any meaningful exercise when I get up and walk to it, but I do get work disruption whenever I do. On a normal workday, that is not an enormous problem, but today I had hayfever and was blowing my nose on a fairly regular basis. I was then left with the choice of getting up and walking to the bin to dispose of a tissue every 10 minutes, or letting a pile of them accumulate on my desk. While the latter is a good way of dissuading people from entering my office when I'd rather be left alone, it doesn't make for a particular pleasant work environment. In the end, I found a spare plastic container lying around, threw out some of my paperwork, and turned it into a hidden bin in my filing cabinet.
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