Storage Wars

As I mentioned in my background post, my desk at work sits in the hallway and I act as reception for 3 departments. In return for me handling reception for the Law office, their admin staff cover my lunch break as the desk has to be manned all day. In order to accommodate this, the desk is very large and has an extra computer and chair just for the use of their office when they are out here. The only storage for the entire desk are small 2 and 3 drawer file cabinets called “peds”. The desk, when bought new, came with one 2 drawer and two 3 drawer peds. I myself had two 2 drawer and one 3 drawer one from before the remodel. My three peds are full to bursting. When we first started using this desk, the new two drawer ped was designated as the one to hold interoffice mail folders and a few other things. One of the three drawer peds was graciously put beside the work area the Law office uses for general office supplies they need when they are here. And the last ped had some odds and ends in it but wasn’t full.

Now, a while back, the Law office decided that they needed another 2 drawer ped for use in their office and wanted to take the one from this desk as there wasn’t much in it and they felt that it was theirs. Now let me clarify, the remodel and this desk were completely paid for by the Manager’s office, my department, and as such everything at it (save for the computer, printer and chair used by the Law office) belong to this office. Sure, we’re all part of the came organization, but each department has their own budget and this came out of ours. So we don’t let other departments just have things unless we truly are not using them anymore. This was made clear to the Law office several months ago and they managed to find a couple of peds from storage that would work for them.Recently one of the three admins from their office that covers lunch has been mentioning under her breath about how she wishes she had somewhere at this desk to lock up the documents she works on when she is out here. I’ve never commented on it because it seemed odd that she would want to keep any of her work here since she is only out here at lunch and only every third week. Also, she was never really speaking to me when saying any of this.
I didn’t think much about it until my boss came to me this afternoon and mentioned that they wanted to use the semi-unused 2 drawer ped to lock up the stuff they are working on while out here. They figured since they would be leaving it at the desk it would be ok. Can’t argue much with that and since it won’t be leaving the desk and everything in it can fit into the other semi-empty ped. So we just switched where each was located at the desk so the 2 drawer one would be by their work area.
But here is what gets me, why do they need to store anything out here? There are 3 ladies that cover my lunch. They cover for a week at a time on a rotating schedule. One of them never brings any work out here with her and spends her time either on her phone, ipad or on the computer doing I don’t know what cause I’m not here and I don’t really care. The second one brings a little bit out with her but no more than a stack of papers. The third (the one who mentioned needing it) always comes out here with 2 bags full of stuff, a huge stack of papers, some binders and a drink. The ped will be used by the 2 who actually bring their work out here. What confuses me is do they really have work that they ONLY do while they are out here? I guess they must as why else would they want to leave it out here? The third lady wouldn’t need to if she would just leave some of the stuff at her desk though. The bags she brings out are full of personal stuff that I’ve seen her working on like a bible and a journal.
I’m just annoyed that I’m having to switch up where I keep stuff because someone who is only out here for an hour a day can’t prioritize her work well enough to only bring with her what she actually needs for the hour she’ll be out here.