Mug of the Month

Since we were talking about coffee mugs the other day, I was reminded of an amusing practice from several years ago, "The Mug of the Month".  Several fellow employees of the Paul Mueller Co were involved in this activity on a regular basis.  We would bring in new mugs at the beginning of each month to use in the office.  This served two main purposes, first it built camaraderie among the participants but mainly it was a means of humorous distraction from the office environment.

Here are some other distractions:

1) Dead Fish Parties: Several of us would meet in a conference room about once a quarter for lunch.  The only requirement to attend was bring some type of dead aquatic creature, as long as it came in a can (i.e. sardines, clams ...)

2) Pepper Head Parties:  "Pepper Head" refers to someone who enjoys eating hot peppers, and the hotter the better.  This was normally an annual events and often included many of the Dead-Fishers.

3) Holiday Munchies:  Any Holiday would do.  Ground Hogs Day, April Fools Day, Birthdays and of course all the standard ones too.  My dear wife was  greatly appreciated in my office for her tremendous baking skills.  I think that's why they kept me on so long.

4) Comic Strips:  Posting comic strips with textual modifications would always draw a crowd to a cubical.  Favorites to modify and post were the Far Side & Dilbert.  "Where's Waldo" would show up now and then because we had a manager who looked just like Waldo.

This is just a glimpse of how we tried to keep our sanity in the work place, although that list doesn't sound like the product of mental stability.  In the office the goal was to fabricate a mechanism which would bind employees together to function as a synergy.  In Christ we don't need to fabricate anything, we need only to allow the commonness which we share to knit us together.  When the Spirit of God is quenched the bond is strained but when we are walking in the Spirit then being in "One Accord" becomes more than just a car joke.


Chuck