Dunder Heads

I like staples, not the store…well, I do like the store. While Staples is not the outfit professing passion for office supplies in a marketing campaign, I still like them. Staples, the outfit trying to get us all to jump on the easy button, is an acceptable outlet for staples and other supplies. This, however, is not about stores, but about supplies, specially, staples and paper clips.

I like staples. Staples are handy for binding pieces of paper together. (I know there are other kinds of staples for other purposes-but for today we are talking paper-just paper). For me, staples are a more permanent binding solution, for use when you don’t intend for the papers to be loose, not wanting them to run amok. Of course, staples can and sometimes must be removed. Removal of a staple is not that difficult, provided you have the proper tool. The tool, staple remover, is available in several styles. I prefer this style.

However, I don’t like removing staples. It can be messy. The paper can rip and you wind up with broken, now useless staples littering the desk. More times that not, the handy little remover is not at hand when you need to remove a staple. Your choices are to wrench the papers apart or use your fingers to try and pry the staple loose. While not overly painful, the stab of a pried staple can be annoying.

For temporary binding of multiple pages I prefer paper clips. Paper clips are sturdy and a perfectly acceptable temporary paper binding agent. A paper clip can be removed without any damage to the papers or fingers. A paper clip can be re-used, over and over and over again.

I receive faxes. Many faxes, usually multiple page faxes, often, throughout the day. More often than not the fax requires some action and a return fax. The fax machine will not scan a stapled sheet. A staple can damage the fax machine. I don’t have a stapler near the fax machine. I have equipped the fax machine area with a container full of paper clips.

The guys in my office apparently don’t like paper clips. They appear to have a passion for staples. They staple everything. Sometimes, multiple times, as if one staple is just too weak to hold 2-3 pages together. When the guys in my office retrieve faxes from the machine and they see it is address to me, they leave the fax machine area, staple the pages and place in my tray—which is inches from the fax machine, very near the container of paper clips.

DUNDER HEAD! Paper clips rule!