h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have the fortune to have an office job for a "high-tech" company. As such we constantly kid ourselves that the "paperless office" shall come one day - thriving on emails, less-and-less faxes, and the occasional irate phone call from someone who didn't get that crucial email because the network was down, or something terribly mysterious and evil happened in cyberspace.

During such ludite-like episodes, faxing my printed communication of failed emails to my valued customers, the return copy will return to my in-box with all necessary papers attached by a paper clip.

That paper clip is my prize for making the effort to actually create a piece of printed paper, walk with it to the fax machine, press some key on the machine, and watch it go off via the low-tech fax protocol.

I will not surrender that paper clip to the fax machine "recycling" cup - Instead that paper clip shall remain my captive, awaiting it's fate. If it is destined to be a lucky clip it will be attached to some document I pass on to a paper clip "recycler". If it remains, it shall become a "sculpture".

The primary function of the paper clip is to be transformed into something else. The lowly staple lacks in this respect - breaking the nails or pricking the fingers of the office sculptor, and besides lacking the flexibility to be of interest.

While transacting business on the telephone, the staple offers three flexibility points to exercise the creative mind: The primary bend, being the first to be translated spatially; the outer bend allowing an easy opening and the inner straight providing the third topographical dimension.

With some creativity, and depending on the mood of the phone call, this creative device, can result in an endless variety of sculptures, or even vaguely practical devices - The 3D delta; The standing loop; The flat quadrangle; The cubist sheep and the angry desk-thumper fist impaler.

Not forgetting the Paper-clip dog, and many many others.
Paper clips are here, and they're here to stay, alright?
I, myself, only just reached A Levels, have a stock of paper-clips, which I use to while away the hours of day, by bending into sculptures and after this has taken it's toll on the 'clip, I also see how many small pieces of metal I can break the paper-clip into. Hours of endless enjoyment whilst pretending to revise for GCSEs have passed with a paper-clip. So uselful. So Under-estimated.

Sounds like you are well prepared for a cushy office job already.