Lucky Larry Uses 1.7 Staples Per Day – The Odd Statistic Of The Day

Staples, the little piece of metal that gets shot through a group of papers that its ends get bent inward to hold the papers together.  It's something we don't often think about but I recently did and was astounded at what I discovered!

It was Thursday of last week when my stapler ran out and I was no longer able to attach a group of tickets together. I reached into my desk drawer to pull out the box of staples and realized I was about to use the last sleeve from the box. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I got to thinking, when was the last time I had to request a box of staples from the office supply coordinator? (Yes, we have an office supply coordinator, but that's not their only job though!) After thinking about it for a while, it was in 2002! Twelve years ago I received this box of 5000 staples!

When another co-worker and I did some math, here's what we came up with:

• 5000 staples in 12 years
• 416 staples each year
• 34 staples per month
• 1.7 staples per work day

Now granted I don't use the stapler EVERY SINGLE day, because I know I'll go a long time before having to use it and then all of a sudden I'm using it to staple a bunch of tickets together for winners! It's just something you don't think about and when I said something to our production assistant, he said something very similar, "I've had this box of staples for as long as I can remember too!"

On the other hand, I can use the heck out of some tape! Mainly because I don't lick envelopes to seal them, I just use tape to seal it up!

So when you think about it, how often do you use your stapler in the office and how long will a box of staples last for you?