Desk Defense: A Workplace Tale

Many years ago I had a corner desk near the door. Co-workers would regularly put their

drinks on my desk on their way to the restroom and pick them up on the way back.

After asking them not to do that, I put an extra wastebasket at the end of the desk started tossing

their drinks in it. They were often genuinely surprised to find no drink

when they came back through. I just apologized and told them that I didn’t know who

left their trash on my desk but I needed my desk space to work. They also bumped

into my chair while cutting through my work area. These things would happen multiple

times a day and it was always the same handful of people. It was so bad that