07.18.08
Office space
Today’s Unfortunate English moment, not captured in the original book: If employers are so concerned about people sleeping on the job, why do they put them in cubicles?
The first meaning of cubicle, from around the late 15th century, was . . . (yawwwn—excuse me) . . . (maybe I should get some coffee—just a second) . . . anyway, the first meaning of cubicle, from Latin, is “bedchamber,” and if I hadn’t seen that etymology in the Oxford English Dictionary, I’d wonder if the “bedchamber” origin weren’t perhaps concocted by the guy responsible for those Penthouse letters (you know there has to be only one).
So if you want your employees to stay focused, give them offices. But don’t expect them to be happy about it. I return to the the OED, and its definition of an early but now obsolete use of the word office: “The function or action of defecating or urinating; excretion; an instance of this.” At least such meanings might save you the bother of issuing keys to the executive washrooms.
And if I’ve bored you—well, your cubicle awaits.
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