We use “King Size” Sharpie markers to label boxes (of which there are many) because the thick, dark lines are easy to read. But it got harder and harder to find them around the office, and whichever markers we did find were almost dry. It was confusing, because we knew we’d bought a few boxes of them.

Finally one day, Rachel saw Jenny using one and asked her where she found it. Jenny got really quiet, but motioned Rachel to join her at her desk. She then produced a massive handful of markers from her file cabinet and told Rachel not to tell anyone.

Her reasoning: people kept leaving the caps off the markers, allowing them to dry out, or just simply misplacing them (often also without caps). To combat this issue, Jenny appointed herself the keeper of the markers…without telling anyone.

As things go, it’s not a battle we really want to fight. We know the markers will be well looked-after, and if we need one, Jenny will lend us one. We just better not lose it.