the passive-aggressive note has not been destroyed; it has been solved
this note represents pretty much everything about office culture that makes me cringe. appropriately enough, i can’t even bring myself to call out the specifics — it’s just too overwhelming. (but the sign will always be there…every day, taunting me.)
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FILED UNDER: CAPS LOCK · alot · anthropomorphism · fridge · inane cartoon · mixed metaphors · say wha? · spelling and grammar police · u.k.
119 responses so far ↓
#1
Tyler
“Alot” of people use apostrophes when they spell dont….I guess they couldn’t remember if “I am” is “Im” or “I’m”, so they just decided to be safe
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:21 am rating: +3
#2
cre8tivewmn
Ack! Garfield cartoon, cutsie personification of mechanical object, condescending remarks to other office workers, overuse of color, all caps–it’s a PAN sweep!
This note writer has been doing her homework!
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:22 am rating: +18
#3
cre8tivewmn
You’re right, Tyler, I didn’t see the missing apostrophe at first. Missing spaces too. And the Garfield cartoon is about being fat. This note gets better and better!
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:26 am rating: 0
#4
Joe
I actually thought it was kinda funny, and not at all aggressive. It’s the sort of note I wouldn’t mind having around to chuckle at, if it weren’t pointing out something so brutally obvious.
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:49 am rating: +2
#5
isidro
I wish I had a alot of foods. I have seen worse notes on the fridge of my workplace. I wish I had taken a pic of the best one I’ve ever seen talking about “If you think you’re food has any chance of becoming putrid or particularly vile, your mother is NOT here, so THROW IT OUT!!!!!!”
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:53 am rating: +4
#6
Writerrejected
I have lots of foods in my belly too and I’d like to vomit the foods all up on the person who wrote this ridiculous note without ever using any punctuation
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:59 am rating: +1
#7
Wade
So, in the note writer mind, is it a refrigerator or a regurgitator?
Mar 21, 2008 at 12:09 pm rating: +2
#8
claw71
There are two reasons the refrigerator door gets left open:
1. Somebody was too lazy or preoccupied to make sure it was closed.
2. A devious prick like claw71 saw this note and escalated the passive aggressive festivities.
Given those facts I conclude after careful consideration that notes such as this, even with a played out Garfield cartoon attempting to inject levity into the situation, are counterproductive at best.
By the way, I think that the cartoon is a pretty good sign this person is on the verge of a breakdown. It’s classic overcompensation. I can smell the rage.
Mar 21, 2008 at 12:15 pm rating: +6
#9
secondsout
Again with these fridges that aren’t closed! Aren’t most refrigerator doors weighted to close on their own??
Mar 21, 2008 at 12:23 pm rating: +1
#10
Sarah
Simple solution: open door, eat “foods”. Then the note-writer won’t have to worry about the fridge being closed!
Mar 21, 2008 at 12:25 pm rating: +1
#11
secondsout
Does anyone else hate Garfield as much as I do? I remember thinking Garfield was funny back in 1985, when I was 6 years old, and Garfield was still somewhat fresh. Now it’s almost 30 years worth of rehashed jokes about being fat, eating lasagna, sleeping, the owner being a douchebag, and Garfield beating up the dog. Fuck Garfield!
Mar 21, 2008 at 12:26 pm rating: +13
#12
GhostWriter
If only they had cut out the food-belly line and comic, and replaced it with, “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
…and a pic of Khan.
Mar 21, 2008 at 12:45 pm rating: +1
#13
claw71
They should do like my dad did:
Whenever the refrigerator door wasn’t shut all the way he’d line all for of us kids up and whip us with the belt. To this day if I start to walk away from a fridge without pushing on the door to make sure it sealed I feel searing pain in the scars on my ass.
Mar 21, 2008 at 1:06 pm rating: +4
#14
Canthz_B
A belly is a poor place to put food one wishes to keep cold.
Mar 21, 2008 at 1:07 pm rating: +2
#15
pry
first off, thanks for stating the obvious. what? the food in there is supposed to be COLD? oh, i get it now.
second, all this is missing is a cathy cartoon.
Mar 21, 2008 at 1:13 pm rating: +1
#16
bamBAM!!
So, I guess refrigerators must be reptiles, cause they can’t possibly be warm-blooded.
Mar 21, 2008 at 1:29 pm rating: +1
#17
pistola
Wow, I mean…wow. I can’t believe the person who wrote this is employed. I don’t even know where to start. They should put the note writer’s desk near the fridge so she/he can punish anyone who dares to not shut the door completely.
Mar 21, 2008 at 1:49 pm rating: 0
#18
claw71
Harry Chapin, please forgive me…
A child arrived just the other day
got his lousy job in the usual way
kissed a little ass, faked a resume
hit the right points, started right away
Posting notes before you knew it, he’s such a tool
He wrote the fridge belly must be cool
He said the fridge belly must be cool
And the fat cat’s onthe message in the break room.
Weird vodoo talking for the refrigerator too
My belly’s got your goodies try to keep it cool
Cause Garfield’s watching you.
Mar 21, 2008 at 2:15 pm rating: +6
#19
Canthz_B
How am I supposed to enjoy my lunch now that it has been in the belly of the fridge?
Beyond that, this note can be very effective.
For those with a fear of talking appliances, that is!
Mar 21, 2008 at 2:26 pm rating: +1
#20
Canthz_B
If refrigerators keep food in their bellies, do vending machines dispense from their wombs?
Is that stuck bag of pretzels a breech birth?
Mar 21, 2008 at 2:30 pm rating: +11
#21
Suhayla
I want to punch that baby-talking notewriter in the back of the head.
Mar 21, 2008 at 3:16 pm rating: +2
#22
Agargara
The multi-colored text is a nice touch.
Mar 21, 2008 at 4:32 pm rating: 0
#23
Heidi
OHHH puke!! Thats terrible!
Mar 21, 2008 at 4:47 pm rating: 0
#24
Quite Contrary
Is the temp from MTV even allowed to touch the refrigerator?
Mar 21, 2008 at 5:00 pm rating: +2
#25
YourUndoing
Holy crap. Please let this fridge be at a pre-school. Or E! channel studio. Whichever.
Mar 21, 2008 at 5:40 pm rating: 0
#26
anglophile
People, that is not even a real Garfield! It is an editorial cartoon, by Gary Varvel of the Indianapolis Star if my handwriting analysis skills are at all competent. I noticed it wasn’t Jim Davis’ annoying signature with the circle dots over the i’s.
So the big question is, why is this note tagged UK? Is the note from the UK, and if so, how would someone from the UK get a hold of a Indianapolis newspaper’s editorial cartoon, and, more disturbingly, what is the significance of a lame cartoon about Overweight Hoosiers to this UK office? If the note is not from the UK, why has it been tagged so?
So confusing!
Mar 21, 2008 at 7:45 pm rating: 0
#27
Wade
That refrigerator must be part of Amana’s Fat Bastard line.
Mar 21, 2008 at 8:58 pm rating: +3
#28
bamBAM!!
Was the illegible Garfield comic really necessary? I mean, wasn’t separating a five line note into three paragraphs enough irritatingness????
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:05 pm rating: +1
#29
tlyzer
This note is so annoying and juvenile, if it’s not on a refrigerator at a daycare, then it must have been written by a former daycare worker. She probably hands out one of those gold star stickers to anyone she sees closing the refrigerator door.
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:11 pm rating: 0
#30
shelly
i tell my students,
“you don’t write ‘alittle’, so don’t write ‘alot.’”
a lot
TWO WORDS!
Mar 21, 2008 at 11:31 pm rating: +2
#31
Laurie Kendrick
This note, along with cutesy, unfunny prose and Mommie Blogs are all on the same ridiculous level as far as I’m concerned.
Anthropomorphizing the inanimate can be funny…if written with real humor and proper attitude is applied. I CAN HAZ GRILLED CHEEZ ain’t it.
Then the whole magilla is exacerbated by misspellings and misspells.
If I were to happen on this note on my job, I would have to remove it and then search high and low for the its author. Then, I would take all the “warm foods” that were the end result of the fridge door being left open for hours, because there was no sign to remind the Nimrods to close the door in the first place, and shove it up his or her unenlightened ass.
Fine, I’ll dispense with being polite and generous.
On a lighter note: I love this blog. Linked to it on mine and read it daily.
LK
Mar 22, 2008 at 9:08 am rating: 0
#32
Sam
What gets me are the three different colors that are used.
Also, whoever did the Harry Chapin piece (I forget, sorry!), you have won my undying love and affection.
Furthermore, I’m actually amazed that whoever wrote this note didn’t add at least five more exclamation marks to it.
Mar 22, 2008 at 10:09 am rating: 0
#33
bamBAM!!
Could everyone please SHUT UP about the whole grammar thing, like okay! We get it!! It’s the internet, relax, children!!
Mar 22, 2008 at 3:43 pm rating: 0
#34
bellabeastie
Just signed on.. y’all can fight about punctuation all you want, but that note makes me to not EVEN want to touch that fridge.
What if you reach out your hand and it reaches out its handle to you and says .. “Oooo, it’s you…. ”
and it squeezes your hand really tightly…
“I know YOU…” “YOU left me open last time…”
“Bwaahaaahaaaa….. Observe the Dead Cat At the Bottom. Let it be a warning. ”
Team I Will Not Be Left Un-Shut
“YOU are the one who left me Open Last Time..” GAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:13 am rating: +2
#35
bellabeastie
Pee ess. Happy Easter!
Fuzzy pagan bunny and chickie hugs all ’round. Oh, and please pass the ham. And eggs. For my belly.
*shiver*
Mar 23, 2008 at 10:25 am rating: +1
#36
Agent Inspired
So the “Please keep refridgerator door closed.” signs didn’t work, hm?
Multicolour fonts, cartoons, and decidedly stupid metaphors away!
I think I’ll go comfort my note-less, unloved fridge while I wait for all this to blow over…
Mar 24, 2008 at 5:57 pm rating: 0
#37
TuesdayPillow
I think a simple, “Please close me when you’re done, asshole” would have worked nicely.
Mar 27, 2008 at 1:12 am rating: 0
#38 i asked santa for a baby alive, and all i got was this stupid dishwasher
[...] think i’d ever see a kitchen appliance more inappropriately anthropomorphized than this fridge, but i think this dishwasher note (from an anonymous submitter in england) dials the wtf-factor up [...]
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:58 pm rating: 0
#39
NYC Attorney
You say this “represents pretty much everything about office culture” that makes you cringe. Take heart! There are indeed office cultures that are nothing like that.
In our office kitchen, there is posted:
- the cafeteria menu for the week (professionally printed),
-the restocking schedule for the coffee pods (ditto),
- a curious note in the fridge that reads “Do not eat the allspice” (good idea)
- names and dates on perishable items.
I read this blog, and appreciate my office all the more for the professionalism and lack of passive agressive notes!
Feb 6, 2009 at 1:18 pm rating: +1
#40
Mitch
Sorry. Jealousy is all the fun you think they had.
I am from Central and learning to speak English, give true I wrote the following sentence: “Garreth forsey mastercard, merchants offer to see these licenses in city for the launched revolving corporations they can change.”
Thanks for the help 8), Mitch.
Sep 4, 2009 at 4:42 pm rating: 0
#41
JMeister
I love workplace fridge notes!
At one place, there was this ridiculous PA/sarcastic note pleading for the fridge to never be cleaned, as the mouldy contents may provide the cure for cancer.
Naturally (because I, too, am a tool) I posted immediately below it the warning sign, “Caution: Exposure to contents of fridge may cause cancer.”
This resulted in both signs disappearing REALLY quickly, and a stern memo from management (OOOOOH) about ‘inappropriate signs’.
Ahhh, the Old Days…
Jan 21, 2010 at 11:37 pm rating: 0
#42
JimJam
I used to correct spelling and punctuation on P-A notes put up on the wall when I worked at Subway, pretty much on a daily basis; needless to say, I got fired after a few months of this practice.
Feb 16, 2010 at 9:10 pm rating: 0
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