At work, we had some down time after the bulk of the day’s surgeries ended. Five of us sat around chit chatting, pursuing a lively conversation regarding the LifeVac, a real life plunger with a face mask used in place of the Heimlich maneuver. The talk shifted to cats gravitating into tape boxes on the floor after perusal of a Facebook page littered with images of cats sitting in squares as proof.
In a flabbergasted, albeit completely convinced tone, my coworker, Kelsey, posed the question, “Why do the cats move into the boxes?” My mind began racing. If I saw a tape box on the floor, I would almost certainly stand in it. More likely, I would leap into said box.
I communicated this revelation to my colleagues, and we instituted a social experiment. After one failed attempt, Kelsey was able to create a perfectly symmetrical tape square on our office carpet. After the box was made, both Kelsey and I took a crack at standing in it.
The three other mid-level providers present in our office refused to set foot in the square. One workmate said she declined because, “you never know if it could turn into a vortex.” The remaining two didn’t have the same vortex suspicions, yet they agreed on avoidance of the square.
Over the next evening and day, people jumped into the box, individuals avoided the box, and video enthusiasts sent out footage of the box. The end results: some people are suspicious, others are adventurous, and we entertain one another. I encourage attempts of this experiment in your own workplace.
Of note, my cat snubbed the box I made at home.
