The Office Water Fountain

The humble office water fountain is giving drinking fountains in general a bad name. It appears the office water fountain is the number one gathering spot for staff to slack off, swap stories about their weekend and to gossip about their co workers.

You know how it all works, you go to fill up your water bottle of cup and you spot Kerry from Accounts walking towards the fountain, oh no, you think, I can’t handle another conversation about her dogs and how wonderful they are right now.

But before you can make a break for it she’s bailed you up as she slowly reaches to fill up her dog shaped cup. She’s telling you about Schnookie and Pookie and how they won a prize at the dog fair on the weekend, she then moves on to tell you about a strange dream she had the other night about how they became the first dogs to win first place in two consecutive years…you slowly start to drift in and out of consiousness.

It’s possible to avoid situations like this at work, you could always ask Kerry to wear a bell around her neck so you can hear her coming, however that idea might not go down so well amongst your co workers so the best advice would be to always keep your guard whilst at the water fountain.  This can be tricky as you don’t want to get water everywhere while you’re filling up and you also don’t want to be looking over your shoulder all the time to see who’s coming. The best thing to do is to listen, listen carefully for footsteps and as they get closer start finishing up on your refill and make a break for it before it’s too late!