Q: When I found out I'd be interviewing you, I Googled "Dave Barry + supply management."
A: What is this "Google" you speak of?
Q: Well, anyway, nothing came up. So, if you had to, how would you define supply management?
A: I would say that they're the people who manage the supplies ... the things. And I'm really glad they do it, because I wouldn't know where to begin. Personally, I'm at the other end of the spectrum. I'm more of the using-of - in some cases, destroying - things variety.
But I have to say, over the years, I've worked for a lot of organizations that required supplies. When I worked at a newspaper, there were pens, for example. I assume somebody was supplying those pens, and whoever did that did an excellent job.
I did not do as good of a job keeping track of them. Assuming each one - and I'm talking basic Bic ballpoints here - cost 49 cents, I'm probably personally responsible for somewhere in the neighborhood of $17,500 worth of lost pens over the years. And for that, I apologize.
