bring WHAT! to work?!

I am so out of it.
I thought having an office job meant working at my desk in a quiet, professional setting with a couple coffee breaks a day to relieve stress.
Then the News-Times received an e-mail asking us to inform our readers about “Take a model train to work” day on Nov. 4 – a day when model train enthusiasts around the country can showcase their favorite toy locomotive at the office. Dozens of employees participate in the now annual tradition at General Motors Design Center in Warren, Mich.
I have a desk toy or two – but a model train? Who has space? That e-mail, did however, reminded me of the annual “Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work” held in April. As I said, I am out of it – all my children have their own jobs; and the grandchildren live too far away to spend the day watching me twiddle computer keyboards.
But, one day is so limiting. Some small, family, friendly offices accommodate new mothers and allow them to bring the infant to work as young as four or five weeks old. That way the company does not lose a valuable worker and the mother is happy – until reality hits – as it did for the women on the Berkeley Parents Network. There women discussed the pros and cons of having a new baby at work. Some had tried it and opted for a much different choice with their second child.
Personally, mixing work and family life reminds me of nightmares I’ve had where stacks of unfinished paper work haunt me while I tend to the immediate needs of little ones. I don’t even want to mix work and my mature family members. I actually laid down the law to my family about living their own lives while I’m at work.
At this stage in life not only do I lack little ones to take to work, I also do not have a canine creature for “Take Your Dog to Work Day” promoted to encourage dog owners to consider spending more time with their dogs by offering them a taste of working life.
“They’re trying to make workplaces more worker-friendly environments,” said Dr. Susan Nelson, assistant professor of veterinary medicine at Kansas State University. “For many people, having an animal in the workplace relieves tension. In general, we do know that petting and stroking your pet has been known to decrease blood pressure and stress,” Nelson said.
I could see tucking our gray tabby into the cat carrier and hauling it to work with me. That cat loves to be held and petted. The down side is that some people are allergic to animal hair; others are scared of animals and a few co-workers not want my cat to leap up on their laps and demand attention while they key in stories. An unexpected, unwanted feline visit might their blood pressure.
Actually, taking a pet or child to work for an entire day, let alone every day, sounds extremely stressful. I prefer to just go to the office, concentrate on the task at hand and go home to pet the cat.
One thing I read about that I could take to work without disrupting the routine of my co-workers is a plant. Office workers with plants in their offices – which they did not have to water or nurture – experienced a 25 decrease in tiredness, coughing, sore throats and cold related illnesses according to research by Dr. Tove of University of Agriculture, Norway. Workers just plain felt better with plants around.
Thanks to a couple co-workers we already have a couple plants that I, with my brown thumb, am not required to tend. And that’s enough for me. I don’t want to be anymore with it than that.
(Joan Hershberger is a reporter at the News-Times.)