A colleague of mine regularly offers chocolate, candy and other treats to everyone on the floor by just leaving the treats in a bowl on top of the cabinet in which he stores his files in. (To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what he really does store in that filing cabinet. And come to think of it, it would be much more entertaining if I were to decide it is, I don't know, sex toys. Anyways. I am saying "files" right now, but feel free to replace that word with any that you feel is more appropriate. And please let me know if you have a particularly good idea.) That filing cabinet is the one that stands in between my office and that of Petit Chiot. And you wouldn't think that would be a problem, as that specific colleague has been leaving treats there consistently ever since I started working here in 2012, and I've only moved to this particular office last year. Everyone should know who the treats are from, right?

Well, right. But you would be wrong to assume so.

The filing cabinet had been empty for a while - mostly because my colleague was on vacation - but chocolate materialized on it yesterday. Somehow, for reasons that are completely beyond me, a number of colleagues have stopped by my office to thank me for that chocolate. Another question that comes to mind is: why do people thank me and not Petit Chiot? Why do I seem to be the one who's most likely to give out chocolate, and what does that say about the way I (and Petit Chiot) are perceived around here?

And now I have been correcting everyone for two days in a row. And that's fine. But I've only just realized that if I ever do want to give out treats to my colleagues and leave them on that cabinet, everyone will assume they come from that other colleague.

Or, well, if five years (and possibly more) wasn't enough for things to sink in for them, maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe it means I really should bring chocolate with me to work. And, in order to add to the confusion, make it a point to do so on a day that my colleague leaves his own treats on the cabinet.