All in a Day's Work

I walked into the office this morning and the first thing I noticed was the little paper umbrellas stuck everywhere. On my desk I found a clear plastic sleeve with a blue umbrella inside. It implored me to search for its friends and fill the bag. So I did.

I found 60 blue umbrellas hidden throughout the office. In with the sugar, at the bottom of a vase, stuck in the cubicle walls... And for my efforts I won a real black bumbershoot with a curved plastic handle and snazzy red dice painted all over. It's tall and makes me want to prance. When I pick it up I feel like singing "Puttin' on the Ritz" and tipping my imaginary top hat.

An unfortunate side effect of my participation is that everywhere I look now I think I see colored paper umbrellas sticking out of the walls. All together there were over 500 hidden in the office. About 170 are still out there, haunting me, mocking me.

I'm afraid I won't have a moment's peace until those 170 return home to their families. Yes, in times of crisis, I'll be the one who steps up to the plate and takes one for the team. Because I am the Umbrella Wrangler. And we wranglers are a proud, but dying breed.