How to have fun with your Iron Moutain guy!

Want to know how to have fun with the Iron Mountain person that picks up your tapes? Here's a funny story (at least I think it is funny).

In my last job we used Iron Mountain to pick up our backup tapes. Except for a few weeks, the same guy picked up our tapes from the first day I setup the service over four years ago. So we were pretty familiar with him, and he knew everyone at the front desk where we left the tapes (in case you are wondering, the front desk was a secure place, with a locked door and windows surrounding the desk).

There was a restroom on the opposite side of the hall from the front desk, and it was the closest restroom to my office, so I frequented the area quite a bit (what can I say... I drink a lot of water). Anyway, I happened to be in the restroom one day, and the our Iron Mountain guy came in carrying the case that held our backup tapes. Being a hygienic fellow, he set the tapes down away from all the stalls (but not too far away from him), then proceeded to do his business (I didn't realize that this was kind of embarrassing when I started writing it).

He did not see me when he came into the restroom, and he didn't look up when I started washing my hands (again, a little embarrassing). Here's where he made his mistake. The sink was between him and where he set down the tape case. So when I finished washing my hands, I quickly knelt down and grabbed the tape case as I was exiting the bathroom. I stepped to the side of the door and calmly waited to see what would happen.

Well, in about 5 seconds he came running out of the restroom with an expression that was a mixture of worry, rage, and confusion. He caught sight of me quickly, standing there with my best evil grin on my face. I started laughing, and the relief was evident. Of course, he was a little irritated, and obviously his cleanliness was overridden by his job duties, because he had to go back in and wash his hands (I kept the case until he was finished). When he came back out, he was a lot calmer. But you could see that he was rethinking his process. I never confirmed it, but I am pretty sure from that day forward he went to the restroom BEFORE he picked up our tapes.