Sunday, January 21, 2007

Clean Desks and Sick Minds


Quote of the day:
“Fortune does not change men; it unmasks them.”
--Madame Necker

Quote of the day no.2:
“Some have charged that those who objected to Saddam’s hanging thereby minimized his crimes. But if Saddam’s guilt were to be the measure of his punishment he would have been tortured to death--and even then the retribution would have been inadequate. Capital punishment’s worst affront is not to the dignity and humanity of the condemned. It is to the dignity and humanity of the polity that decrees it.”
--Hendrik Hertzberg in "The New Yorker."

There used to be a very popular desk sign that said “A Clean Desk is a Sign of a Sick Mind.” I’ve had my share of sloppy, disorganized desks, until I figured out how much easier life was with a clean desk. It took me a while to learn that it was much easier to throw things away immediately rather than save them to be thrown away later.

But clean desk or sloppy desk, I always thought that sign said much more about the person posting it than about the people it aimed to describe. When I saw this sign, it was invariably posted by a slob who was attempting to say that his clutter was an indication of superior adjustment and mental health. Because I was acquainted with the adjustment and mental health of the posters, I knew this not to be the case.

Cleanliness and tidiness do bring out our most obsessive qualities. Indeed, some folks seem much more concerned with the order of their immediate world than with the people around them. But allowing dirt and clutter accumulate on your desk does not mean that you are a more caring person than those who are tidy. Sorry.

No comments: