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Bladen Journal, Elizabethtown, N.C., Erin Smith columnSep 26, 2011 (Bladen Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- I have a new co-worker who stays under my desk. He's a rather small fellow, or maybe he is actually a she? He/she crawls around on the floor under my desk and often explores the area in our hobbit office known as "Middle Office," a.k.a. our version of "Middle Earth." Occasionally he will sit on my surge protector and sing softly to me or he will decide to hide himself away in obscurity waiting to jump out and scare the living daylights out of whomever happens along. No it's not a frog nor a lizard -- but a cricket. He/she is black in color and we are not certain how it got inside but we guess it made its way in by hitching a ride with someone or hopping inside when the back door was left ajar. I've been told that to have a cricket under my desk is good luck and he/she seems to be harmless enough. It sings to us all and, on occasion, he will seemingly pick one of us to sing to individually. I'm not certain if it thinks we are the largest crickets he has ever seen or if he thinks he's helping to reduce the stress levels in the newsroom on paper days, which seem to be the days he picks to croon to us all. After several days of trying to corner him and shoo him away and his steadfast refusal to leave, we decided he must be good luck and let him stay. I have no clue why my desk seemed to be a good choice for "home" for this cricket hobbit. Maybe he liked all the seemingly endless piles of paper work that seem to accumulate at a ridiculously fast rate on my desk each week or maybe he liked the fact it is fairly dark under the desk and is "no go zone" if something falls under there. Maybe he enjoys the philodendron plant and Easter lily that have made a home in Middle Office. I do occasionally catch him eyeing them as if he is contemplating making them a snack. We aren't sure what he is finding for food and we are not sure we really want to know. He has been living under my desk now for about a month and he seems to be none the worse for wear. We do worry sometimes when we haven't seen him in a few days that maybe he has moved out. Then, as if on cue, we will hear his song start up again and we'll see him come scurrying across the carpet as if to say, "Here I am. I haven't left." As we all know, sometimes accidents do happen and we worry about him becoming squashed flat under a desk chair or a foot haphazardly placed at the wrong time. He seems to navigate the dangerous maze of desk chairs and human feet with ease never pausing long in anyone place unless he decides to sing. I'm not sure what Simon Cowell would make of his tune. It's loud and shrill unless he decides to sing softly to whichever co-worker he selects for the day. The other day I was contemplating whether or not he would be a good candidate for fish bait. I had even gone so far as to take a mental measurement of his length and was deciding which size fish hook he would fit the best when he convinced me not to drown him in a quest for a nice sized pan fish. He crawled on top of my surge protector and quietly sang his tune. A fit of guilt and remorse washed over me for just a few minutes, then I decided to leave him alone. He wasn't hurting anyone. He doesn't sting or bite and appears for all purposes, resolute in staying in his new home. He also has seemingly gifted us with a bit of good luck, and being the Irish lass I am, I believe in good luck. So, I guess Jiminy Cricket or Jiminette Cricket has found a home, at least temporarily, here at the Journal. ___ (c)2011 the Bladen Journal (Elizabethtown, N.C.) Visit the Bladen Journal (Elizabethtown, N.C.) at www.bladenjournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |