Prepare for Life - Buy a Stapler

At my school, and almost every other place I have worked, finding and keeping a stapler is like panning for gold. Why is that? When I went off to college my mom gave me a survival gift basket of must-have supplies. In it she included a stapler. Little did I know that she was giving me insights into life in the real world.

I kept that industrial strength stapler until 2008 - over 15 years - and then foolishly left it in London. What was I thinking? It felt like just too much to pack up that stapler which I had carefully shlepped out to the UK. Perhaps I was inspired to leave it behind as a parting gift as finding office supplies in the UK was just as difficult as staplers in the US. Hopefully it has found a good home.