Running the register at Kinko's, I was always cleaning up the constantly renewing mess that formed on the counter. So I decided to conduct a little experiment to see how many people exhibited certain unconscious behaviors.
I had a cup with pens in it near the register for people to use to fill out credit or account slips and whatnot. I decided to not round up the scattered pens and return them to the cup like I normally do, but let them pile up and see what happened.
The largest group of people took a pen out of the cup, used it, then left it on the counter instead of returning it to the cup. The fact that the counter had a dozen pens scattered on it didn't deter them. They would take from the cup, even if there was only one left in there and 20 lying on the counter.
A smaller group of people took a pen from the counter, used it, and then left it where they found it.
A few people asked if they could have the pen. (sure, they were cheap stick pens with our logo on them. Take a few, nobody minds. )
The smallest group of all, say maybe under 5 per day total, would use the pen, re-cap it, and return it to the cup. This group tended to be easier to work with in general.
Interesting, I thought, that the vast majority of people preferred a fresh pen, but it never occured to them to lift a finger to clean up after themselves, even if doing so cost them absolutely no extra effort i.e. it took the same amount of effort to put the pen on the counter as it did to put it in the cup.
Okay, okay, so this is what you call being bored out of your skull at work. But I thought it was an interesting people experiment.
I had a cup with pens in it near the register for people to use to fill out credit or account slips and whatnot. I decided to not round up the scattered pens and return them to the cup like I normally do, but let them pile up and see what happened.
The largest group of people took a pen out of the cup, used it, then left it on the counter instead of returning it to the cup. The fact that the counter had a dozen pens scattered on it didn't deter them. They would take from the cup, even if there was only one left in there and 20 lying on the counter.
A smaller group of people took a pen from the counter, used it, and then left it where they found it.
A few people asked if they could have the pen. (sure, they were cheap stick pens with our logo on them. Take a few, nobody minds. )
The smallest group of all, say maybe under 5 per day total, would use the pen, re-cap it, and return it to the cup. This group tended to be easier to work with in general.
Interesting, I thought, that the vast majority of people preferred a fresh pen, but it never occured to them to lift a finger to clean up after themselves, even if doing so cost them absolutely no extra effort i.e. it took the same amount of effort to put the pen on the counter as it did to put it in the cup.
Okay, okay, so this is what you call being bored out of your skull at work. But I thought it was an interesting people experiment.
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