Missing Things

important things are missed

Carl knew this couldn't be right. The desk booking app showed that only one desk was available. There was no way that the office was booked solid on a Monday morning. He tried refreshing the app. He tried logging out and logging back in again. He even tried uninstalling and reinstalling it. But no matter what he did, it showed that only one desk next to the bathrooms was available.

When Carl got in, he found the office as empty as usual. He sighed and unloaded his laptop, his keyboard, and his mouse onto his terrible desk. He looked in his bag for his phone adaptor, but couldn't find it. He knew he hadn't left it at home; he never took anything except his laptop out of his bag when he got home.

He walked around the office, trying to remember where he had been sitting the previous week. The whole office was empty. He wondered if he should move to a desk near a window.

He checked desks and drawers, but found nothing. He sighed and headed to Sam's desk to check the lost and found.

***

"I don't see why I have to sit at the crappy desk I reserved today," Alison complained as she rummaged through the lost and found box, looking for her adaptor. "I don't see why I have to sit at the one desk the app told me was free today when it turns out that the entire office is empty!"

"That happened to you, too?" Carl said. "I'm stuck sitting by the bathrooms. I think I'm going to move to one of the seats next to the windows. They're all free."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Sam said. "The company isn't responsible for any equipment left at stations you aren't assigned to."

"Does that mean that our stuff won't end up in the lost and found if we leave it there?" Carl asked.

"No, it'll still end up in the lost and found if someone finds it," Sam said. "But if you forget your laptop at a desk you weren't assigned to, then you're on the hook if it gets lost or stolen."

"That's stupid," Alison said, still looking for her adaptor. "The laptop would still be in the office. It's not like it would be in our car and our car got stolen." She paused and looked up. "What happens if our car does get stolen with our laptop in it? Are we on the hook for it?"

"Yeah and you'd get let go," Sam said. "You're not supposed to leave your laptop unattended. Even if it's in your car."

"Even if it's in the trunk?" Alison asked.

"Even if it's in the trunk."

"What about if it's at home and I have to go get groceries? What then?"

Sam shook his head. "Not allowed. You need to bring it with you."

"To the grocery store?!"

"To the grocery store."

"What if I go get groceries and my house gets robbed and my laptop gets stolen. Am I on the hook for it?" Alison said.

"Yup," Sam said. "Dino had a car accident over the pandemic and lost his company phone, and they fired him. I think they even threatened to sue him. I don't know. I only heard about it from Angie. She was here when his wife brought back his laptop. Apparently his wife was pissed. But it was in his contract."

"Well I guess that makes it OK, then," Alison snarked. "I can't find my adaptor."

"Take any adaptor," Sam said. "Just bring it back at the end of the day. Same thing for you Carl. Just take any adaptor that works. No one will notice."