Swing low, sweet staaapler

It's been a good couple of weeks for the Swingline company, as far as its advertising to me is concerned. Not that I think Swingline is particularly worried about advertising to me so much, but I think they'd be happy to know their name is out there as a part of the greater pop culture. When I started at Big Internet Company, my desk setup was pretty rudimentary: computer, desk, file cabinet, trash cans, chair, and phone. I didn't have any desk accessories (not even a lamp!), nor did I have supplies. I foraged through the supply cabinets for pens, Post-its, and the like, but came up short on larger items like staplers or three-hole punches. The only item that I actively missed was a stapler, but due to my own inertia, I never got around to requesting one (I just used the one sitting by the copy machine/printer). I must have mentioned it to my supervisor (though in an offhand fashion, for I can't remember doing it), though, because he came to me yesterday and grandly presented me with a shiny, black Swingline stapler. He didn't really get my delight, though, until I explained the presence of Swingline in the larger cultural psyche due to the popularity of "Office Space," which one of the lab techs at work just happened to be playing on a personal DVD player at the very same moment I received my own Swingline! And it reminded me that on last week's "Gilmore Girls," Sookie made mention of Lorelai falling asleep at her desk, on her stapler, and having "Swiiingline!" imprinted on her face for the rest of the day. (You had to see the line reading—awesome!)

Anyway, I have no idea what my point is here, except that a strange cosmic confluence has led to three mentions of Swingline in two weeks, in my otherwise Swingline-free life. Maybe it's a sign that I need to work harder to keep everything together.