The inevitable has happened at work. My formerly glorious big office (with two windows yet!) has been turned into three small cubicles. Well, actually two small cubicles and one semi large-ish one. I have one of the small ones. But I did get half of a window (the upper half) AND I’m nearest the door – woohoo! Don’t get me wrong – I knew this was coming. The office had been shared variously by me and my friend Skip until he retired, then by me and my good friend Apryl until she left, then it became me and a lot of junk and department stuff that had nowhere else to live until it all retired. Now it’s me and the new guys (they have names but let’s just refer to them as “the new guys” – as you can see people who share this particular space have a tendency not to stick around). As I organized my small space and tossed out old magnets and comics that had nowhere left to be hung (goll-dangit the new cubicle is plastic!!), my thoughts strayed to the history of cubicles. According to the OED (that’s the Oxford English Dictionary for all you non-librarians out there), a cubicle is:

A bedchamber: in the general sense obs. since the l6th c., but re-introduced in modern use, esp. in English public schools, for one of the series of small separate sleeping chambers, which now often take the place of an undivided dormitory. Hence gen. any small partitioned space; spec. a carrel in a library.

My favorite part of the definition comes later in their usage section. This, from 1963:

“…No one seems to know whether cubicles originated in England or America, and the cows don’t care, because cubicles are the last word in cow comfort… Some of the cleanest cows to be seen these days..are those in cubicle installations.”

The last word in cow comfort, huh? And I thought happy cows were the ones grazing in California fields…

Seriously folks, here is a design for the ultimate cubicle, courtesy of Scott Adams and Ideo. The aquarium would be a really nice addition. But what I REALLY want is a cone of silence!