The Great Office Mix-Up

Mark always believed he had the worst luck at work. He worked in a busy office where things could get chaotic fast. One Monday morning, Mark was in a rush. He had five cups of coffee that morning and was already late for an important meeting. As he tried to open the office door, he realized he had grabbed the wrong briefcase at home—not his own but the one his neighbor, Mrs. Green, had left outside by mistake. Inside the briefcase were some very unusual items: knitting needles, a large rubber chicken, and a notebook filled with recipes for cakes. Mark laughed nervously to himself. “Well, this isn't my day,” he thought, trying to put the strange items out of sight quickly. At the meeting, Mark sat next to his boss, but when he pulled out his “briefcase,” his laptop was missing! Instead, the rubber chicken squeaked loudly when he sat on the chair. Everyone turned to see what had happened. Red-faced, Mark tried to explain, but his words came out as a stutter. Meanwhile, Mrs. Green was at her knitting club, wondering why her briefcase suddenly started vibrating. She opened it and saw her laptop replaced by a mountain of office papers and Mark’s lunchbox with a half-eaten sandwich. By lunchtime, Mark was still trying to fix the mix-up. He went to Mrs. Green’s apartment to swap briefcases. But the door was locked. He rang the bell repeatedly, and Mrs. Green finally opened, surprised to see him holding a rubber chicken. They both laughed when they swapped the briefcases and agreed this was the most unusual day they’d had in a long time. Mark promised to be more careful and bought Mrs. Green a cake from the bakery as an apology. The funny mistake became a daily joke in the office. Mark was no longer just the guy with bad luck; he was the man who lost his laptop to a rubber chicken and won everyone’s sympathy with his good humor.