February 4, 2006

•           As the day came to an end, she knew the time had come to close the office.  Going through her usual routine, she collected the garbage bags from each desk, shoving one into another, and then collecting them into the larger bag at her desk.  To make more space, she lifted the bag and shook it, but there was a peculiar sound of metal on metal.  After pausing a few seconds to think of what it could be, she continued on with her work.
            When the clock struck five, she put on her coat and slung her purse on her shoulder.  She grabbed the garbage bags, threw then into the dumpster, then headed straight to her car.  As she reached into her purse to take out the keys she realized they weren't there.  She must have left them in the office.
            With all the lights off, she cautiously opened the door, wondering if her boss had already set the alarm.  Not a sound.  Making her way to her desk, she surprised her boss, who thought everyone had already left.  She explained her keys were missing and proceeded to search the drawers and desktops.  Nothing to be found.  She must have dropped then outside.
            While she retraces her steps to the garbage bins outside, her boss takes a look around the cars in the parking lot.  Suddenly, a thought enters her mind and she begins to think of the possibilities that she might be right.  Without any luck, her boss heads toward the dumpster and she says, "I think they're in the garbage..."  Shocked, he replies, "in the garbage?  Why would they be in there?"
            They look into the newly emptied container and find the bag she threw in just minutes before.  It was at the bottom.  He goes into a nearby store, borrows a walking cane, and fishes the bag out of the garbage.  As he pulls the white bag out, the sound of metal tapping the edge of the dumpster resounds.  She points to a corner at the bottom of the bag and hopes her keys might be there.  As her boss rips open the bottom of the bag, her keys fall out onto the wet cement.
            With a look of surprise and relief they laugh about the situation and she heads to her car and goes home.  During her drive, she thinks about how her keys had gotten into the garbage bag in the first place.  The only explanation is, when she walked into the office that morning, she must have put her purse down, kept the keys in her hand, and then tossed them into the garbage.

  
  

  Yes, I supposed that's what happens when you're up late the night before, reading a book, and end up running late for work the next day...at least, that's what happened to me...

  • 3:13 am
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