Limerick scores break room upgrade for Mote Marine

Poetry is an art form that can stir a wide range of emotions — it makes us laugh, it moves us to tears, it inspires us to dwell on fundamental questions of human existence.

And, if you’re Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, it wins you a $50,000 toward improving your break room from the office supply company Staples.

Staples announced today Mote is the winner of its Ultimate Breakroom contest. The research facility beat out thousands of other entrants nationwide to win an overhaul of its break room.

Mote Business Manager Lori Beier saw the contest and thought the laboratory would be a good candidate, according to Mote spokeswoman Shelby Isaacson. Faced with a 150-word limit to make Mote’s case, Beier turned to Robert Hueter, a senior scientist who had showcased his limerick-writing skills within the company.

Hueter put together a limerick that paints a somewhat unpleasant picture of the break room at Mote — and that convinced Staples the facility was a deserving winner:

Our company’s called Mote Marine Lab
And our staff is absolutely fab,
But our break room is bleak,
Where the faucet does leak,
And the cabinets are so ultra-drab.

We do have a microwave oven
No longer deservin’ of lovin’
And a fridge that’s a scare,
With brown creatures in there,
Plus a sink that’s prone to floodin’.

All manner of insects abound
And the lights all make a weird sound.
It’s as if the room’s haunted 
By bad lunches unwanted
With the ghosts of the dead all around.

The ceiling was installed in the seventies
Its fungus and stains aren’t amenities!
True, the floor has been waxed
And has not yet collapsed,
But it’s beginning to eat our extremities.

So Staples, we seek your alliance!
We’re a nonprofit studying science,
But our breakroom is SAD
And we need your help BAD
Before we lose all of our clients!

Representatives for Staples will assist Mote with plans for improving the break room. Isaacson said the prize was a valuable asset for an institution often limited in its ability to invest in internal upgrades.

“As a nonprofit, we don’t necessarily have a lot of extra funds to do something like this,” Isaacson said.