The joy of office paper fasteners #2

Can it really be over two years* since I last waxed lyrical on the topic of office paper fastening technology?

Is it just me, or is the coloured paper clip truly a thing of beauty? Do you, like me, find yourself sifting through the office box of recycled paper clips to find the funkiest coloured specimens - particularly those much sought-after striped ones? I know I could just buy a stock of new ones, but somehow retrieving them from incoming post is much more fun (perhaps I should just take up stamp collecting...).

The drive towards a paperless office, or at least a "less paper" office, has created a surge in demand for these humble implements here. Staples have been almost banned, at least for internal papers. Why? Because it takes ages to remove them when you want to scan a file for archiving. paper clips are much easier to remove.

Of course, my age-old aversion to paper clips was not without reason. Put paper-clipped papers in the filing basket and sooner or later they will gather some totally unrelated document, which will then end up on the wrong file, never to be seen again. Even worse, you use one on outgoing post and two unrelated documents are accidentally conjoined and end up with the wrong client!

So I still prefer staples for outgoing stuff, or just loose sheets, but it looks like paperclips are the way forward in house.

Which brings me to another gripe - what is it with people who insist on stringing paper clips together? You're on the phone, papers in the other hand and quickly need to attach them together before something gets mislaid. You reach in your drawer for a simple paperclip ... only to find that someone has joined them all in a long chain! Aaaagh!! Of course, this only happens if you retain and recycle paper clips from other documents, rather than using only brand new, pristine clips.

I think self assessment returns are starting to get to me.

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* For the previous instalment see http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/item/171497