Shredder Boys!

Simply throwing sensitive and confidential documents into a trashcan will not suffice these days since it can always be retrieved by someone else and used in ways one might not even imagine. This is why in any office a shredder is considered to be as important a tool as even the computer.

It’s no wonder that it was a guy who originally came up with the idea for a shredder. Inventor A.A. Low is credited with having designed the first paper shredder in 1908; but it wasn’t until Adolf Ehinger came along in 1936 with his version of the paper shredder, that the devise caught on. His company, EBA Maschinenfabrik, was the first to introduce the crosscut paper shredder in 1959. Now I imagine this guy must have been very fascinated with the whole process to come up with something even better than the original; similar to the kind of fascination being expressed by some of my office mates. They would have really loved this guy if they ever stopped shredding long enough to think about who invented the amazing piece of machinery that could keep them occupied for hours.

My officemate used to be alone in his passion. He would jump out of his chair and grab anything that is about to go into the shredder to shred it himself. Of all the machines in the office, he loves the shredder the best. Perhaps, being a guy, he loves the whole destruction of the paper thing or whatever. But recently, he got a new member to share his shredder fascination with. I will never understand his fascination with the shredder. In our old office, there used to be a tiny shredder which could shred only 2 pages per minute at the most. According to them, it was an amazing and wonderful machine! Sometimes they would put paper in it and reverse it so the paper came out half shredded and this amuses them no end for some reason. Whenever someone had something to shred, they would volunteer to do it for them and go as far as to snatch it away from others to shred it themselves. They love making the shredder noises. Right after they put something in the machine, they would make the same noises until it is done shredding. I mean seriously! Come on!

When we moved to the new office, my boss bought a new shredder that could shred 15 sheets maximum. Imagine their excitement! Immediately, they came over and plugged it in although half the computers were not even setup yet. We had a working a shredder before any other equipment had even been plugged in! During their free time, they would come around and shred everything they found in the new office. The fax machine is right next to the shredder but no worries; they have not shredded an important fax yet.

Next, the boss bought a photocopy machine. I think I actually saw their eyes sparkle. Their new love! They immediately sprang into action and plugged it in. Last I saw, one of them had his head under the lid and was photocopying his face... right after they were done with their hands... sigh...

A friend of mine told me about an office mate of hers who had his office ID and half his tie shredded. Perhaps it was an accident, but who knows? Men’s fascination is not limited only to these office equipments apparently. Little boys would make vroom sounds and imitate driving cars as kids, and as adults, if they can afford it, they would own as many cars or any other machines that catch their fancy.

What is with them and these things? What is so exciting about the shredder and the photocopy machine that they get all excited when someone starts walking to these machines and they spring out of their comfy chairs and run to you to do it for you? They were even going through the shredded papers from the shredder yesterday, discussing how finely it was all shredded and telling each other excitedly how the shredder “ate anything you put in there, staples and all! Heck, you could put a table in there and it would eat it up!”

There is a warning on the shredder which says that you should not put such things as screwdrivers, your hand or tie into it and I wondered once who would be crazy enough to do that? I guess I have my answer now... and maybe they should have included furniture, office supplies and kitchen utensils into the list of things that should not be shredded!