Remember the office secretary who guarded the stationery cupboard with her life and judiciously metered out pens and pencils to those lucky few?
I remember it well. A palpable fear surged through me when faced with making my first stationery request. Newly graduated, 20 something, office junior. I had no idea about anything.
Despite never meeting the secretary, I knew enough already to fear her. It was the manner in which my ‘buddy’ (workplace mentor) suddenly needed the bathroom as we drew closer.
“You’ll be fine Frank – don’t smile, don’t make small talk, don’t mention politics. Oh, and ask for less than you need, greed is never good”.
I rounded the corner and followed the advice exactly. Praying my face wouldn’t unexpectedly blush and my own bladder would hold.
1 HB pencil, 1 small eraser, 1 yellow Bic biro. No undue embarrassment. “Take good care of those, they’ll be no more provided”.
Little did I know at the time, but the stationary request was excellent training for my time at that Fortune 500 company.
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