The Secret World of the Desktop Shrine
By Michael Dorman
1 February 2008
Sometimes I swear, staring at this computer, I can hear my eyes scream. You know that feeling when you push them into your head as if it will help, like it's some cure for squinting. Its times like these that a coffee break can't help. There is no trip to the water cooler long enough, no bathroom stall to hide in, no emergency phone calls to take, the times I wish I was a chain smoker...
This is when I leave, I slip the key into the ignition of my 1954 Corvette, and there is nothing between me, and the long drive down PCH. I pick up my construction worker husband, and his friend Bob, the owner of the famous Bob's big boy. I hit the gas and we're off, the wind in our hair, the sun on our skin, away from the confines of the office. When suddenly, we drive off a cliff; I hope no one noticed that. I push my chair away from my desk and gather up my car, my construction worker and Bob from their terrible fate.
These are my escape, my refuge from putting my eyes through my head most days, and I know I'm not alone...these, are my desk toys. Many of us try to deny the importance of the desk toy, we tell our coworkers that they are gifts from children; we discount them as part of a happy meal, or reduce them to funny kitsch that has just been "left on our desk". The truth is that they are our saviors. Most people are shy to admit that these plastic bobbles are the source of countless lost hours of daydreaming. That they are just as important as coffee and bathroom breaks, these are mental break. Most offices don't even condone having this "kitsch" strewn about your desk, maybe that's part of why we are ashamed to have them.
Michael Dorman sits at my desk, waiting for me to finish retouching the blemishes and wrinkles off of otherwise perfect women. He picks up his camera and starts shooting. Taking pictures of my office mates, "Ya' know, Everyone has them", he smiles. "on every desk there is a secret shrine of them." He's right, and after he shoots them I look at these pictures and realize he puts them in the context I do. Put against this stark background he hasn't just captured my P.E.Z. dispenser, my plastic soldier, Bob, or my construction worker husband he has captured my imaginary office world. A world that makes my real world easier, and realize just because we grow up doesn't mean we grow old.
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