Would you like a cup of history with your coffee, this morning.

Everyday, actually every other day, one of the managerial duties I am lucky enough to perform is the traditional, ceremonial emptying of the sacred dishwasher.  It is a small company with an amazing history, owned by two geniuses, it is on the third re-invention, and each time comes crashing through the walls of history, kicking over the apple cart and reaching new heights of creativity and reach.  With a history like that you can have some turnover, some contraction, and expansion.   In this company the shelf holding the coffee mugs is the manifestation of that history.

People would start work, become comfortable and bring in their coffee mug, work for a while, leave the company, and abandon their mug.  It is like a core sample of the history of the company.  

And as the person responsible for emptying the dishwasher, I am in charge of this vital piece of history.  Let's be honest, the past is filled with personalities, and people, and the scrimmages and turmoil that are involved any time you add people to any equation.  Trust me when I tell you certain pieces of the company history would never be caught dead setting next to other parts ot the past.  

Also, when my personal mug is in the dishwasher, I am faced with the horrible decision of choosing which piece of history, which icon, which era of the companies glorious past to honor.  Some days it takes several minutes to decide.

I am thinking of bringing in a forensic anthropologist to sort through the eras, and devise a plan to sort the mugs chronologically, or department, maybe by friendship.  Until then I will do my best as custodian of history, and the preservation of this piece of this historically significant artifact.