Since I started working at this paper in February, I have noticed something peculiar about our building at 85 Exchange St. in Lynn. It is something that I experience throughout the day. It is something extremely distracting that I find myself unconsciously taking measures to avoid. In this office, more than any other building I have ever been in, I find myself constantly getting shocked by static electricity.

Of course, there are situations where it happens more commonly. Touching light switches, door knobs, and — God forbid — my laptop are usually safe bets for a minor zap. I understand the switches, but this also happens when I touch my laptop, even when it isn’t plugged into anything. Before I touch any high-risk objects, I have taken to covering my hand with the sleeve of my shirt or my jacket to interrupt the current. At first, this was successful, but lately, I have noticed some diminishing returns. Now, I will touch them with my sleeve, notice no electricity, think I am safe, and then touch them with my bare hands and get shocked. 

It is not especially strange that I am getting shocked more in this building than other ones. One of my coworkers pointed out that the combination of dry air and carpeting results in the buildup of static electricity. But what is baffling to me is that nobody else seems to experience it nearly as much as I do. While I am tempted to chalk it up to my electric personality, I can’t help but feel this is some kind of a physical reaction unique to my body.

Looking for more information, I sought advice from the most reliable and iron-clad source of truth we have: the internet. I found a lot to validate my coworker’s description of dry air and carpets as factors. I also found an old article published on an outdated version of The Guardian’s website that mentioned another culprit: shoes. Apparently, trainers (that’s British for sneakers) have thick rubber soles. When we walk, we lose static electricity from the contact between our feet and the floors, but thicker soles insulate us and cause the static to build up. As a result, it suddenly releases when we touch conductors. 

It seemed like I finally had my answer, because I do wear sneakers with very thick soles each day. To verify, I asked one of my coworkers, who said he had never been shocked in the office, if I could see his shoes. The soles of his sneakers were bigger than mine! 

So much for that theory. At this point, I am back to square one, with no idea what could be giving me so many shocks. If you have any hypothesis that could explain this, please let me know.

Stuart Foster is The Item’s opinion editor. He can be reached at [email protected]