This Story Is Full Of Holes

Coworker #1: “Do you still have the single-hole puncher? The handheld one?”

Me: “No, sorry. It was defective, remember? Why?”

Coworker #1: *holds up her plastic badge sleeve and a miniature quilted wallet* “Well, see, I want to put a hole through this—” *the plastic sleeve* “—and this—” *the cloth wallet* “—so I can have them together on my lanyard. Wouldn’t that be so convenient?”

Coworker #2: “We already tried it with the three-hole puncher.”

Me: *dumbfounded but trying to be polite* “I don’t think you can put a hole in the cloth with a paper hole puncher.”

Coworker #1: *disappointed* “Oh…”

Coworker #2: *seeing my big three-hole puncher* “Oh, here’s a strong one, over here!”

Me: “I don’t think it will work. The hole puncher isn’t sharp. It just pounds out holes in paper.”

(They went away, but I can’t help but wonder how much of their work day they had already put into trying to use hole punchers on a thick cloth wallet.)