I'm just full of ideas.

The subject of crying at work has come up twice in the last 24 hours as I conversed with friends and co-workers. Note, I did not say I've cried at work twice in the last 24 hours - the subject has just come up. I'm not really a cry-in-public kinda gal. I have cried in public, and at the office for that matter, but it's something I'll bust a blood vessel in my brain to avoid. I'm a big believer in holding things in check until you're safely in the car or home. Then let the dam burst.

I *am* a cryer - I'm kind of an easy mark actually. Just not in public. And especially not in the office. I even have a "rule for living" about it. It's very profound, and I shared it with a friend yesterday. My rule is, "When you start crying at work, something has to change." It's like a light just came on for you, isn't it? The insight. I know.

Of course, this rule applies to situations where something at work is what made you cry - your actual job, or your boss, or a co-worker, etc. When this is the case, you must take action: get another job, confront the person who made you cry, ask for a different assignment, etc. But there are times when the crying has nothing to do with work. Maybe you broke up with your significant other, or you just found out a beloved pet has a terminal condition, or you haven't slept in 6 months because your baby has colic and now you just spilled your coffee. Tears in these situations are almost impossible to stop, and you probably don't feel like explaining your weakened condition to your boss or anyone else within hearing distance. What's a worker to do?

Oh sure, you could go to the bathroom and cry. And then someone comes in to pee, and you're both uncomfortable. You could try and sob quiety at your desk. And then someone comes over to ask you a question, and you're suddenly the center of attention for the whole floor. You could go to your car, but then everyone coming out to their car to go somewhere looks at you suspiciously (What is she doing in there? Why is she just sitting in her car? Is she going to jump out and mug me? Is she in there committing suicide? Maybe I should tell someone...). None of these is particularly great. So, I have come up with the solution: Cry rooms.

Churches have them. Why not offices? They church ones are for babies, but who says babies are the only ones who sometimes need a good cry at an inopportune moment? My office building has a room for new mothers to go pump breastmilk. We have a break room on the first floor. Why not a cry room?

Section it off in cubes, just like our work space, and put up curtains, like the nurse's office in an elementary school. Take the psychiatrist-couch things placed in some of the bathrooms around our building (don't get me started on those), stick them in the cry rooms, stock the cubes with kleenex and trash cans, then get outta the way. You just found out that your plumbing system is falling apart, and it's going to cost $30,000 to dig up all the pipes and replace everything? Head to the Cry Room, baby. Find a cube, pull the curtain, plop down on the couch, and let her rip. They could even put little timers in there, so if you're only allowed two 10-15 minute breaks a day (plus lunch), you won't run over and get in trouble (which would, of course, lead to more crying).

I think it's brilliance. In fact, I'm so moved by my own genius, I think I may cry.