Street Works briefly reported a maintenance ladder missing yesterday. The ladder had been signed out. It was not beside the cart. It was not in the storage rack. A supervisor began checking nearby streets. Eleven minutes later, somebody looked up. Two workers were using the ladder to repair a sign. The ladder had not moved since morning.
The two workers on the ladder had heard the search beginning below but assumed the missing equipment must be a different ladder. Neither wished to interrupt the supervisor, who was by then explaining very seriously how important it was to keep track of municipal property. The supervisor cancelled the missing-equipment report.
One worker asked whether this meant the ladder had been “found.” The supervisor said it meant everybody should stop talking. The paperwork had already been started and therefore had to be completed. The ladder is now officially recorded as: “Recovered from vertical service.” Nobody knows what this phrase means. It is now in the system permanently.
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