There I was, minding my own business, calmly enjoying my new standing desk, when the room erupted. Baffled, I looked up to catch a twinge of violence in their eyes just as this pack of hyenas I call my “team” lashed out.
“I’m gonna kick it one day,” one of my Gizmodo coworkers, Alex, shouted from across the room. Thus began what would turn into months of relentless ridicule over a simple piece of ergonomic office furniture.
In my private pursuit not for the perfect standing desk, but for the most practical one for me—a human being—I faced mockery beyond my wildest dreams from fellow Gizmodo colleagues who attacked me after I purchased a totally fine standing desk made of cardboard on Amazon.
I picked up the Ergodriven Spark—“the perfect way to try a standing desk”—for one reason above any other: price. Like a rare breaching whale, I saw this $25 corrugated box soar above a sea of overpriced products I wasn’t ready to commit to just yet, as I pursued my quest for mild physical activity. Popular standing desks can cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars; my boxy alternative stood in great contrast.
“No worries about who is footing the bill or which fancy features you might use,” the chipper landing page for the product reads. “Just grab Spark and try standing at work.”
“Sure,” I thought. It’s not like I was dropping a grand. If I really loved it, maybe I’d trade it in for something fancy one day. Something elegant, electronic, and made of bamboo. That’s what I really wanted, but deep down, I also wondered if any standing desk could make me feel better. To find this out for myself, I eventually plowed forward, selected my size (“Medium”), and added the Spark to my cart.
What the company (and reviews site Wirecutter) failed to warn me about, however, was how enraged this simple device would leave many of my coworkers.
“I wish I could open a window so I could throw it out,” said our deputy editor, to raucous laughter. A senior writer chimed in: “I can’t think of a cheaper product to buy that would make more people unhappy. I think in that way it is extremely efficient.”