Always be Prepared

*Note: This post is the text from a speech I gave about a month ago..

While I spent time trying to figure out what I should do about my speech, three different co-workers stopped by my cube and said things like:
"Hey, do you have..." and without taking notice I handed out a band-aid, an Advil and an extra Post-it Note Pad from my collection.

And then it hit me. I should share with everyone another thing about myself. It's not really a secret - if you worked closely with me you'd already know this:

I am ALWAYS prepared. In the Boy Scout sense of the phrase.

You know how Grandma's purse is always chock-full of STUFF. With mints rolling around loose in the bottom that pre-date the Reagan administration?

You know how mom's invariably have tissues tucked away in some pocket for runny toddler noses - no matter where and when?

I am that mom. I am (in the future) that Grandma.

At work, I am THAT WOMAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING.

People who don't even know my name at work know that if they need a finger nail file in the middle of the workday, they should come to my cube.

I can be counted upon as a mini-Office Depot. I have scissors, staples, post-it notes and manila folders ready to give away at any moment. I have enough for me and for anyone else who might ask.

I am PREPARED.

My coworkers know that if they help me out I'm likely to share my secret stash of chocolate covered pretzels. Or if they get a spot on their shirt I have cleaning wipes and a Tide pen to help dab at their stain.

My boss one day forgot her lunch and I fed her an EXTRA frozen meal that I'd brought complete with snacks for dessert from my never-ending filing cabinet o' snacks. I have Oatmeal in case someone needs breakfast one morning. I don't eat Oatmeal, I just have an ample supply of instant oatmeal packets in my drawers.
I also have no less than 4 kinds of teas.

I have an (empty) flower vase stored in a bottom drawer, several spare mugs, extra graph paper note pads brought from home and every color ink pen known to man (or woman).

When a coworker is feeling ill, they just come to my Filing Drawer Pharmacy.
What Ails you? Tummy? Headache? Sinuses? I've got you covered.

I also have every manner of cleaning product, too. Antibacterial handwipes, monitor wipes, and desktop cleaning wipes. (I leave the baby wipes at home.)

In preparing for this speech I also discovered that I am still a miniature IT help desk in my own right. I have extra mice (3), extra laptop batteries, extra CD ROM players (2), two Laptop travel cases, extra locking cables (2), extra mouses pads (2) and extra LAN cables. I even have an extra set (2) of headphones in case you want to listen to music on your PC and forgot your headphones.
I play IT help desk to our internal project group frequently, we've all just gotten used to it - the times that one of us has had to leave for a trip only to realize our battery won't hold a charge or we need a laptop bag and I quietly hand the needed item over have become so frequent it's just expected now. I don't mind a bit - I'm just that way.

You'd never know it from looking at my desk area, because it's rather tidy. But my filing cabinets reveal the truth:

I AM ALWAYS PREPARED.