This is the story of a mug.
A mug that had dried up oatmeal in it and sat on an empty desk at work for, like, ever. At least three weeks.
Gross.
My coworker, Travis, would pass this desk every time he went to the breakroom.
And every time he saw that mug, he would be like, “Whose mug is that? Why haven’t they bothered to clean it out yet? Why did they just leave it on some old desk? Have they no decency??”
Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer.
He threw it away.
If someone had actually wanted that mug, he thought, they would have taken care of it by now…not abandoned it with dried-up oatmeal inside. For weeks.
The end!
(HE THOUGHT)
THE VERY NEXT DAY
MISSING MUG SIGNS WERE POSTED ALL OVER THE OFFICE.
(Seriously, I am not making this up. I was there. They were everywhere.)
“Have you seen this mug?” it asked.
It had a picture of the Colorado University mug. The exact one Travis had thrown away the day before.
The poster claimed that the mug went missing yesterday, and this coworker was really worried because that mug super important and sentimental to him.
Travis was like
“Someone is pulling my chain,” he thought. “They’re totally playing up this joke because they know I threw it away. Right? It has to be a joke. Right? RIGHT??”
Travis was sure they were joking with him.
But he worried.
So he went to ebay.
It took two weeks, but he found it. That same Colorado University mug.
THEN he bought some instant oatmeal, microwaved it in that mug, stirred it around, spooned it out so there was still a little left, and let it dry.
Then he sneakily made sure the coworker would find it.
The coworker found it!
And was happy for about 3 seconds…
How did he know?? How?? Did he have it engraved or something?? Was he the mug whisperer??
Travis came clean. He told the coworker that he’d thrown the mug away.
You’d think the coworker would’ve laughed and thought it was a great joke (because it’s pretty funny.)
But he didn’t. He was ticked! He was super mad at poor Travis!
Travis learned a very important lesson that day: If you end up throwing away an abandoned mug with dried oatmeal inside….don’t spend $28 getting a new one.
But but but … so many unanswered questions!
Had the mug actually been there dirty for three weeks?
If not, what had really happened?
Why was he mad about the new mug?
I neeeeed to know!
Wow! Some people should not work in an office environment. I threw away my fair share of mugs when I oversaw a graduate student lounge – I never once felt bad. People who can’t clean up after themselves deserve what they get.
I can’t believe that he would be ticked. After all Travis spent his own money on a new one!!! Why did the coworker even leave the mug in the first place!!! Yes, so many questions!!!
If the mug was so important why didn’t he take it with him??
It was my mug. I was taking it with me to the kitchen to clean and accidentally left it on an abandoned desk I am usually never by. The next day I started wondering where it was and thought maybe I had left it in the kitchen to dry. But sadly, it was not there. The next logical explanation was that custodial service had put it away, or taken it (which had happened before) so I decided to ask them. It was a few weeks before I could track them down, but they insisted they had never seen the mug….all the while it was on the hidden desk. By then, Travis had thrown it out, and I made lost and found signs in the theme of the famous cat posters. A while later, I was talking to a co-worker and saw my mug and though…holy gross, I can’t believe I had left it on this hidden desk for so long….then I realized it wasn’t my mug since it didn’t,t have the chip my firstborn son gave it the day I finally graduated college with my little family. Travis did fess up a few days later but I was never mad at him and respected his ingenuity. However, if he really spent 28 bucks on it I feel horrible because I would have told him not even worth it. Travis is an awesome guy, and I’m sorry I lost my mug for so long. Still a huge CU fan though….
I must also thank anyone who was overly judge mental before they knew the other side of the story. But yes….I should not be allowed in an office environment.
Lolol…thanks for being a good sport, Chad. I always get nervous doing blog posts about other people because I don’t want anyone to feel bad…but I have to admit, the wanted posters made the story so funny! You’re great. (And the peach tree parable is still one of my favorite stories.)
Poor sad mug…maybe your office needs a lost and found for abandoned (but loved) mugs!
Chad posting with his version of the story is the reason I love reading the comments :)
This was funny and awkward. I think that the mug was there for more than 3 weeks.
One time I was a first year college student with no mugs. And I was Rey concerned because hot chocolate season was nearly upon us. So I went to target and they had a sell on alphabet mugs…but only the ones people wouldn’t buy because no one has names with those letters. So now I have an N mug and there is no N in my name.