The Sandbox Club

Some of us call our workplace “The Sandbox”.

On any given day, with any combination of circumstances and personalities, the atmosphere can be charged with the emotions of a playground sandbox.

“It’s not the same as it used to be” some say.

“We used to get our work done and still have fun” others add.

When I was a kid, we always had the largest sandbox on the block. Each Spring, my father, an advocate of creative play, would load up the trunk of our 1960's four-door Volvo sedan with enough fresh sand to keep a neighborhood full of sandbox lovers busy for a complete summer. 

At the start of every neighborhood playtime, my brother or I would take charge of the sandbox troops and divvy up the plots of sand; marking off boundaries and property lines. Then everyone would get to work creating their "castle", weaving country lanes or city streets around their buildings and to the box beyond.

On a good day, when harmony reigned, each builder would join their streets or highways together. They’d cheerfully offer their piles of reserved sand to those who had need beyond their borders.

But like the wind can change from north to south overnight, a good day could turn bad with no warning.

On a bad day, the need to defend our space would have been better served by a six-foot chain link fence than the lines drawn in the sand. Even the smallest gesture from another worker would be interpreted as infiltration and sabotage. Motivations were assumed not communicated, prompting reactions that prompted reactions that prompted… (I’m sure you get the picture.)

At best, it involved some sand-throwing. At worst - pushing and shoving. In the end though, the loss was felt by all as the disgruntled workers left the sandbox; discord and disunity hanging in the air like dirty laundry.

Forty years later the size and look of the sandbox has changed, the semantics haven’t. Our clothes have a different look and we do a better job of styling our hair but we can still be called the “Sandbox Club”.

We have many good days, great days even, and on those days you’ll find everyone happy in their corners busy at their job, readily sharing their “reserves”.

But then, without warning, the disunity starts. Sandbox rights are demanded, then justified. Arguments follow, lines are drawn and sides picked and before you know it the wind is not the only thing that has changed direction.

I’ve been reading a book lately that has some things to say about keeping peace, whether in a sandbox or out. I venture to say if we set out each day with these rules in mind, we might find ourselves back in the good ol’ days when “we got our work done and still had fun”. It makes me want to send an interoffice memo:

Live in harmony with each other.

Don’t try to act important.

Enjoy the company of ordinary people.

Never pay back hurt for hurt - to anyone.

Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible.

Don’t let disharmony get the best of you. Conquer it, instead, by being kind.

The “UP” side to the sandbox is whether today ended up being good or bad, we get to start again tomorrow with fresh sand.