A grave breach of protocol
I showed up to the PQ headquarters on the last day of 2013 with my Timbuktu bag and my Macbook conveniently slung into a repurposed, cotton bag.
“You do know we own a bag and case company?” Quipped the mostly patient Brian.
Yes, and the leather bags are shipped in these cotton bags, great for carrying my junk.
At this point Brian rolled his eyes and noted two salient facts. First, my $1300 Macbook Air probably shouldn’t be classified as junk and second, IT’S NOT EVEN ONE OF OUR BAGS. I’d grabbed one of the many sample bags we tested this summer and it was emblazoned with some software company logo. To Brian this stumble in protocol is roughly akin to wearing a New England Patriots 2012 World Champion t-shirt. (To the NFL unaffiliated, the New England Patriots lost that game to my New York Giants and all those championship shirts that bear their name are adorning little kids in destitute corners of the world; the ultimate in re-purposing.)
Once his eyeballs ceased their slot machine like spin, he painstakingly walked over to our inventory shelves and unwrapped a whiskey leather/green waxed canvas field bag and matching laptop sleeve and brought them to my desk. He then took me through the exact “opening” experience our customers enjoy, meticulously attaching the shoulder strap and subsequently draping the bag over my shoulder.
“Welcome to the Pad & Quill family.”
What a family it is and what a year it’s been. We’ve written about the months of brainstorming and designing, soul searching and rebuilding that we invested in bringing a new line of products to our customers. We solidified our commitment to using our resources responsibly both in how we consume and how we use what we don’t need to help others. We are quite thankful for our little company sending out a warm glow of productivity from the blindingly frozen north.
Brian heads off to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, the Macworld convention in gorgeous San Francisco couldn’t come soon enough, and our design team has shifted back to their workshops in anticipation of crafting more fantastic products.
Happy and Blessed New Year
Kari
(Mrs PQ)
