This is the story of Joe, the office guy. Just a peaceful, ordinary fellow, who was plain and simply a messy pig in his office. He never thought it was any big deal to have things strewn from one corner to another in disarray so bad that people would cover their eyes when they walked by.



One day, as Joe arrived at his office, he decided he would take care of several "to do" items on his list. He did all his personal things from his office as well as business things. The first item on his agenda was paying for his homeowners insurance. He was certain he received that last notice that said cancellation, but was unsure just where he put all those nasty little bills and reminders. He thought and thought. He searched and searched. He was not successful, and finally gave up and decided he would look for those when he got home, knowing full well that they were indeed buried somewhere within his stacks of crap in his baskets at work.

He moved on to the next item on his agenda, paying his car payment. Again, I suppose you can guess what happens here... Now perhaps had he filed those bills and reminders neatly in a file folder, he would have known exactly where to go. He always paid his bill online, but he still had to have the bill so he could get his account number from it. Why he never wrote it down on a post-it note, I cannot imagine. Well, no luck with that task either, so he just put it aside for later.

Well now, Joe was thoroughly disgusted at this point. Even more infuriating was the fact that his boss kept bugging him for a report that was due the day before. How dare he be so insensitive when poor Joe was only trying to pay his bills. Is that not why we go to work, to pay our bills? The report, which he HAD actually finished, was lying right on top of his desk organizer in a red report cover when he left last night. Was the red report cover still there? Well, I suppose you can imagine the answer. In actuality, his report and its red cover were lying on the floor, wedged between the desk and the wall unseen by poor unsuspecting Joe. Now, he would have to redo the entire thing.

His day was not getting any better. Joe got up to go to the bathroom and tripped over a stack of binders. As he fell, he hit his head on the corner of his desk and saw not only stars, but whole galaxies. He was indeed bleeding all over his index cards and paper clips. That was the last straw! He was going home!

He told his boss he was leaving for the day and went out to the lot to retrieve his car. He always parked...... wait.... where the heck was his car? He went back inside and the receptionist cooly reported to him that a tow truck had a rendezvous with his car about half an hour ago. It was repossessed! Damn, he should have paid that car payment. Had it not been lost in his basket, that would have happened. He called his friend for a ride home, stewing all the way.

Upon reaching his street, he was amazed to find that the street was blocked by fire trucks. There was a fire pretty close to his house.... no wait... oh damn... it WAS his house! I can guess what you may be thinking. Uh oh, I guess Joe should have found that homeowner policy and paid that bill.

You can see how the consequences of having a messy office have affected Joe. Some simple organization would have went a long way. The next time you take a look around you and cannot seem to be able to put your hands on something you are sure is in the stack somewhere, remember the plight of Joe and get it organized!