Paper Airplanes
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (118492)
Gainesville, Florida
August 22, 2023 7:43pm CST
How's this for a rough day at work: my boss decided that we should have a paper airplane contest, to see who could make the best-looking paper airplane, the longest gliding paper airplane, and the farthest flying paper airplane.
Okay, my job is not always this fun, and I did not preface the start of this discussion as to the "why" of the fun we had today. I work in the receiving department, managing the back end operations (receiving, delivery, shipping and returns) of a large, nationwide home improvement retailer. Often the staff that works in the back end of the store get little to no recognition or acknowledgement of the work that is done. It's really a matter of "out of sight, out of mind" more than just outright unappreciation for the work we do. Most of the staff and management just don't see what we do in the back of the store (which is actually a good thing for us). So corporate came up with the idea to have a Back End Appreciation week where the staff are treated extra special for an entire week.
Unfortunately, the week corporate decided to hold Back End Appreciation week happened to be the same week we are conducting inventory in the store, so everyone is a little stressed and overworked this week. So the boss decided to have a little fun with us back in the receiving department. Hence the paper airplane contest.
I admit it worked. You would not believe the fun a bunch of grown adults had today designing and making paper airplanes. It was just what we needed to let off a little steam during inventory week, and also a way to add a little fun event into Back End Appreciation week. And my boss pulled me aside on my way out the door today at the end of my shift and told me she will be treating us all to breakfast in the morning. It will be a nice surprise for my crew.
Has your boss every surprised you with any fun events at work? Or have you ever participated in a paper airplane contest?
Needless to say, the paper airplane I created was a total flop. It didn't look impressive (I went for simplicity), nor did it glide long or fly far. I need to research some better designs for next time! 
21 people like this
16 responses
@much2say (53954)
• Los Angeles, California
23 Aug
Hey, didn't "The Office" have an episode with paper airplanes 
?
Well that's cool . . . it's not everyday you can have that kind of fun at work . . . and breakfast is coming too 
.
When I used to work, my boss never did anything like that. He'd promise us lunch if xyz was done by a certain time . . . and he NEVER followed through with that 
. The other month though, Hubby and co-workers got to go to one of those escape rooms and go out to dinner afterwards (a team builder event thing).
?
Well that's cool . . . it's not everyday you can have that kind of fun at work . . . and breakfast is coming too .
When I used to work, my boss never did anything like that. He'd promise us lunch if xyz was done by a certain time . . . and he NEVER followed through with that . The other month though, Hubby and co-workers got to go to one of those escape rooms and go out to dinner afterwards (a team builder event thing).
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2 people like this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
I'm only on season 3 of the Office (yes, I'm a little late to the game), so I don't recall seeing an episode with paper airplanes. But I'll definitely keep on the lookout as I make my way through all of the seasons!
I've done an escape room with co-workers before, it was pretty fun. I'd like to do it again sometime.
1 person likes this
@much2say (53954)
• Los Angeles, California
23 Aug
@moffittjc 
Oh wow, are you loving "The Office"? I didn't see it all until after the fact too . . . during the pandemic we went through all the episodes again . Well then, I can't wait til you get to the paper plane competition part (I think that comes way later than season 3 though).
I'm the only one in the family who hasn't gone to an escape room yet!! Yah, I heard it was totally fun - a bit stressful but fun .
Oh wow, are you loving "The Office"? I didn't see it all until after the fact too . . . during the pandemic we went through all the episodes again . Well then, I can't wait til you get to the paper plane competition part (I think that comes way later than season 3 though).
I'm the only one in the family who hasn't gone to an escape room yet!! Yah, I heard it was totally fun - a bit stressful but fun .1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
@much2say I love watching The Office now. It’s hilarious. But for some reason I did not like it at all when it first aired many years ago. In fact, I read that during its original run it was a mediocre hit, but it did not become a huge classic hit until it was released on Netflix. Which reminds me of shows like Gilligan’s Island, the Brady Bumch, Star Trek and more that were not well received at all when they originally aired, but became cult classics decades later in syndication.
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
@LadyDuck Somehow, I knew you were going to tell me that you didn’t exactly want to see the men in bathing suits!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
All the girls should have told the boss that they would participate in the bikini contest if all the men participated too!
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (95368)
• Marion, Ohio
23 Aug
That would be fun. Had one boss that gave an hour lunch to us on Fridays
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (95368)
• Marion, Ohio
23 Aug
@moffittjc We were only supposed to get half an hour. But on Fridays she didn't say anything if we were a little longer than the hour as many of us would go out to eat
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
@wolfgirl569 I used to love when bosses would take us out to eat on special occasions. At my first career job after I graduated college, our boss would take us out to breakfast every Thursday morning to an all-u-can-eat breakfast buffet, and he would pay for it all. Our entire department would go, he would just hang a sign on the door to our building saying that we would open at 10am instead of 8am. One of the best bosses I ever worked for.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
I've never worked at a job in my entire life that didn't give their workers an hour lunch....
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43080)
• Staten Island, New York
23 Aug
Wish you had a pic of your paper airplane. Did you decorate it lol? Nice to have some fun and excitement at work for a change.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
No, I didn't decorate my plane, and it was nothing more than a typical boring paper airplane. Nothing fancy. I wish I would have taken a picture of the fighter jet that one girl on my team made. It looked just like an F-15 fighter jet.
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
@lovebuglena Yes, out of one single sheet of paper! And not only did it look like a fighter jet, it flew for a very long distance!
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43080)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Aug
@moffittjc an f-15 out of one piece of paper? My airline would be too simple and wouldn’t be able to fly far, if at all.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156488)
• United States
23 Aug
No, I can't say I've ever had a fun event at work. I'm glad you got an opportunity to relax a little and have some fun. Enjoy your day.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
We shouldn’t have to suffer just because we’re at work; I think it’s import to have fun on the job as well as work hard. I have instilled in my staff the motto “work hard, play hard.”
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
@LindaOHio I always told my staff, bust your butt early in the day and get everything done, then you can relax more in the afternoon. A lot of people want to goof off in the morning and then get stuck scrambling late in the day to get everything done.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156488)
• United States
23 Aug
@moffittjc That's the way it should be.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (28722)
•
23 Aug
That sounds like a lot of fun, and a break from the hard work. Plus, a great idea!
I used to try to come up with stuff at work for the employees to participate and have fun with. Oddly enough, the thing they liked the best was guessing who would win the Super Bowl (I hate football with a passion!) and the score. Thee winner every year got a gift--one year, it was an extra day off of their choice, once it was an NFL jacket, once it was concert tickets, etc. So everyone played. Oddly, the winner was usually someone like myself (couldn't play, I was the organizer) who knew nothing about the teams or anything, just put in a guess.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
The Super Bowl thing sounds like a great idea!
Last week, our store manager went around the store passing out sheets of paper to all of the employees called "How Well Do You Know the Boss?" It had a list of things on the page that we all had to try and answer to show how well we knew her. Questions like, "What is their favorite color?" "What is their biggest pet peeve?' and things like that. It was fun to try and guess. She gave the winner a prize, but I don't know what it was (maybe a free lunch or something). I told her we should do fun stuff like that every week.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
@MarieCoyle They gave each of us a really nice stainless steel tumbler today. So, yes, they do have funds they spend on incentives. I heard rumor we will be getting another nice gift on Thursday.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (28722)
•
23 Aug
@moffittjc
If you can get your company to give you some money or prizes, it will be even better. Free treats are always an incentive, for sure! And I do know from experience that most companies/corporations, etc. have a fund for that. They all want happy employees that will stay at the job.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157615)
• United States
23 Aug
At school one year the fifth grade did a science unit regarding paper airplanes. We watched videos, and did step by step copies of various styles. We will tend to do fun things at school on a regular basis. This year we are all being groovy.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
That's awesome! I remember my 5th grade class did an egg drop project, where we all had to designed containers that would protect our eggs from breaking when we dropped them out of a 3rd story window. Interestingly, my daughter did the same thing in her 11th grade physics class, but they had to drop their eggs from the top of a 12 story building at the University of Florida. I forget how she designed her container to hold her egg, but hers was one of the few that didn't break from the fall.
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Sep
You should design a paper airplane bomber. Then you could really drop bombs!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
I used to make some pretty good paper airplanes back in the day, but I forgot how to make all the cool designs I used to make.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
What is your job? What do you do that makes it fun?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Aug
@maclanis And you consider that fun? Lol
What subject do you teach?
@Shavkat (137212)
• Philippines
29 Aug
@moffittjc Did you choose the best one now?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
30 Aug
@Shavkat No, I tried to follow along with the instructions, but they were very difficult. I gave up in frustration.
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
I went on YouTube to look up instructions for making the best paper airplanes, and a lot of the videos that came up were from origami sites.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (49056)
• United States
23 Aug
I absolutely loved making paper airplanes and I made pretty good ones. I think I’ll make one tomorrow.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (49056)
• United States
23 Aug
@moffittjc If you had fun that’s all that counts.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
@Tampa_girl7 I did have lots of fun, even though my paper airplane wasn’t the greatest.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
I went on YouTube to watch a video of how to make a paper airplane that looks like a fighter jet, but the folds started getting so complicated that I couldn't keep up. I wanted to have fun making my paper airplane, not fail in utter frustration. That is why in the end I went for a simple design.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (73538)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Aug
Sounds like a lot of fun. I could never make a good paper airplane,
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
In my youthful days, I made some pretty great paper airplanes. However, nowadays I can't remember all the cool designs I knew back in my younger days.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
The boss cooked breakfast for us this morning, and then this afternoon surprised us with personal mini-cakes for each member of our team.
1 person likes this
@1creekgirl (40554)
• United States
23 Aug
It's nice that management is trying to show some appreciation. Enjoy your breakfast!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
24 Aug
It's easy to forget about the "people in the trenches" when they are out of sight and keeping everything running smoothly and efficiently. My boss does try to do a good job of coming back to visit us in the receiving department when she can.
1 person likes this
@peachpurple (13884)
• Malaysia
23 Aug
Ylu have a fun boss. My boss always tell us to go to her office and starts to blab blah for 1 hour wasting our time over lecturing. She does not unnderstand our woes.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118492)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Aug
I've worked for some bosses like that before. As a boss myself, I try to never let my behavior become like that.
