Office Space - clean or clutter?

There seem to be three types office and cubicle dwellers in the workplace; 1)clean and organized, 2)unabashedly messy, 3)those that vacillate between 1 and 2.

This week I had two people comment on my work area. The first was a first-time visitor that complimented me for my messy area. He said there were too many clean people and that it was good to see someone like him. The second was my next-door neighbor who visits just about every day. She said I need to clean up my act.

This is a topic that occasionally causes me some angst. But who's really to say which is right? Does it really matter? Isn't practically everything on the computer anyway so is filing and organizing that important? A double whammy that people like me encounter is the constant bombardment of people dropping stuff in my space and all the mostly useless handouts received at meetings.

I'm going to continue as a vacillator for the time being but I think as I get older and care less and less what others think I may just become and unrepentant slob!

let us wink

As I walked through the halls of my employer today I realized that people would be more at ease and thus morale would improve if there was more winking going on. I occasionally wink and when I pull off a good one I realize I should do it more.
I'm sure you could go across the country and be able to classify most working people into just a few classes:
- no eye contact makers
- read blackberry while walking
- the smile/grimace. It's so hard to force the smile that it looks painful
- hi, how are you? fine, you?
- bluetooth guy already in conversation
- winkers

Winking is superior to the others (in order) because it's more social, safer, easier to do, not empty and meaningless, and more in the present. A wink simply says, "I acknowledge we are crossing paths and perhaps we'll exchange words another time. Until then, here's a wink."

Not everyone should do it though. I recommend it mostly to the smile/grimace and the hi, how are you? fine, you? groups. If one doesn't know where they fit then a simple rule would be to wink if you're in a non-technical field. If you're technical then follow your instincts.