this public service announcement is brought to us by tully’s coffee, courtesy of megan in seattle.
related: “if it wasn’t for the toilet, there’d be no books”
the more you know
May 15th, 2008 · 173 comments
FILED UNDER: "customer service" · bathroom · drugs · highlighter · p.s. · seattle · spelling and grammar police · stars
173 responses so far ↓
#1
zchamu
Holy crap. This is the first time ever a note has left me utterly speechless. The nuances of the passive aggressiveness…the multifaceted points of the note (“I’ll shit in your coffee if you shit on the floor… go shoot up elsewhere, slimebag”) This is truly a PA work of art.
May 15, 2008 at 9:10 am rating: +6
#2
NoPunIntended
That coffee is fucking delicious!!!
May 15, 2008 at 9:12 am rating: +1
#3
Mishee
Dammit! Now where the hell am I gonna go to do my drugs?
(This one just had to be about coffee!!
I hope the barista doesn’t want to know who won the game, cause they fuck with my coffee they will find out that the Celtics were handed their asses on the court.
May 15, 2008 at 9:12 am rating: +4
#4
amy d
Point of Interest:
The barista who cleans this restroom does not wash her hands and her mood is determined by your willingness to share your drugs.
Thank you
May 15, 2008 at 9:16 am rating: +22
#5
Quite Contrary
Highlighters…check
“Thanks!”…check
Thinly veiled threat…check
Separate and almost worse post script…check
Stars or clip art…check
Virtually impossible to remove…check
Yup. It’s a passive aggressive note and, let me tell you ppl, they mean it!
May 15, 2008 at 9:18 am rating: +23
#6
Quite Contrary
This note also confirms my theory that, in order to be a barista (especially in Seattle), you must have a chip, no a rock, on your shoulder.
May 15, 2008 at 9:19 am rating: +5
#7
unholyghost2003
Why can’t I do drugs in here? The barista does!
May 15, 2008 at 9:26 am rating: +7
#8
Toomuchfreetime
What kind of shitty-ass establishment posts a notice admitting that the quality of their product fluctuates with an employee’s mood? And who wants it pointed out that the same person who cleans shit and piss also makes the drinks?
They just may as well include the E. Coli Cappuccino on the menu and forget about it.
May 15, 2008 at 9:49 am rating: +18
#9
claw71
I think it’s great that a guy can mop up urine and scrub splattered feces from the rim of the commode and still have enough self-esteem to call himself a barista.
Being the pessimist I am, being assigned to latrine duty would drive home the fact that I’m just a loser who works in a coffee shop.
May 15, 2008 at 9:51 am rating: +17
#10
Elizabeth
If you can’t control yourself, don’t fucking work in the food service industry, and don’t threaten customers with threats of unsanitary drinks. People like this are white trash pieces of shit.
May 15, 2008 at 9:53 am rating: +2
#11
GhostWriter
Normally, I like to take a family snapshot at a “Point of Interest”. I crowded my kids into the stall, broke out my camera, and was immediately arrested under suspicion of child pornography. The cops had been staking out the site for dopers.
Typical Wednesday.
May 15, 2008 at 10:09 am rating: +17
#12
Quite Contrary
Between pink t-shirts and drugs, doesn’t anyone use a bathroom to shit anymore??
May 15, 2008 at 10:22 am rating: +2
#13
morpho aurora
unless the barista is checking the bathroom after every customer, she’s not going to have any idea which one trashed the bathroom. and if the trashers have already gotten their coffee, she’s not going to be able to take it out on them. she’s probably just going to cut loose on random customers.
so the only thing this sign says is “i’m a bitch and everyone is going to suffer because i have to do my job.” i don’t think i’d buy anything at this place, i don’t want my coffee ruined because the barista’s mother told her to clean her room.
May 15, 2008 at 10:25 am rating: +9
#14
GhostWriter
‘”Venkman, come quickly! I’ve discovered the secret method of brewery electrokinetics!”
“What’s that?”
“Watch as I place an electronic scullcap on our student subject, while he watches an episode of “America’s next Top Model”.
“…so?”
“Now, taste this coffee.”
“Mmm, sultry, smooth- almost like a shot of Disaronno has been added…”
“Yes! Quite tasty, but watch now as I force our subject to view “Oprah” instead…”
“Wow, those PkE needles are jumping!”
“…and taste the coffee.”
“Yuck- it’s turned into a soapy, sour mush!’
“Exactly- his mood determines the quality of your coffee!”
“I’m going to take back some of the things I said about you, Egon.”
May 15, 2008 at 10:32 am rating: +18
#15
Ana
Christ on a bike – this has to win PA note of the Year so far. UBER-GROSS.
Who is the manager who would let this stay up? An 18 yr old slacker who thinks this is funny?
One more reason to avoid Seattle and its denizens.
May 15, 2008 at 10:36 am rating: +1
#16
aaa
Instead of telling people not to do drugs in the bathroom, why not just call the cops when they do? Arrests are far more interesting than a note, no matter how amusing it is.
May 15, 2008 at 10:41 am rating: +1
#17
RunBarbara
Dear Customer,
Here is some reading material for you while you ruin our clean tile!
I dunk my apron strings in the toilet and then tie it around my waist. I don’t wash my hands and then I touch the cup you’re going to drink out of.
If you leave me a tip, we can negotiate hand sanitizer!
KTHXBAI
May 15, 2008 at 10:42 am rating: +1
#18
Canthz_B
“There was a real sea-change in their attitudes, Bill. All I did was allow the janitors to pour a few cups of coffee and re-name them ‘Baristas’ and now I’m District Manager!”
May 15, 2008 at 12:05 pm rating: +6
#19
Detective Julie
“This coffee tastes like shit!”
May 15, 2008 at 12:05 pm rating: +1
#20
jayne
i’m the manager at an independent coffee shop, and if any of my employees left this kind of note anywhere, they would be fired, hands down.
all this does is deter paying customers from returning and encourage the drug-users and assholes to keep doing what they’re doing because they see it as a challenge.
May 15, 2008 at 12:17 pm rating: +2
#21
Courtney
I thought this was going to go into the “sanitary methods” used while making the coffee…eeekkk….
May 15, 2008 at 1:00 pm rating: 0
#22
secondsout
“The barista” – singular
“Their mood” – plural
Apparently the baristas are multiplying in there!!
May 15, 2008 at 1:04 pm rating: +4
#23
secondsout
OK, so the prick in line ahead of me orders a double-soy, tepid latte with soy milk and whipped cream. It’s a complicated order which pisses the coffee server (sorry, “barista” is way too pretentious for this loser) off, and now her mood is ruined, and I get lower quality coffee because she is put-upon? Blow me, coffee server, I’d rather drink the Folger’s.
May 15, 2008 at 1:08 pm rating: +2
#24
RunBarbara
….
May 15, 2008 at 1:23 pm rating: 0
#25
love the stars
OMG, I just clicked on the note — expectingt to be taken to Flickr. LOL !!!!
May 15, 2008 at 1:28 pm rating: +1
#26
KittyKat
What else was I supposed to do after all those night whoring for drugs? Support all those kids on my measly barista wages?
May 15, 2008 at 1:29 pm rating: 0
#27
jimmyjimmyjimmyjimmykalamahoo! kalamahee! kalamabringachairplease!
those drugs were fucking delicious!!!
May 15, 2008 at 1:37 pm rating: +1
#28
Sarcastic Monkey
It looks to me like it was signed, “Thank$” – as in, tip me well or the bathroom will look like HELL.
May 15, 2008 at 1:49 pm rating: 0
#29
Sundance
To what is the note-writer referring with the ‘thanks?’ No request was made until the PS.
May 15, 2008 at 2:01 pm rating: 0
#30 "Información de interés" para los clientes de la cafetería [EN]
[...] "Información de interés" para los clientes de la cafetería [EN] www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2008/05/15/the-more-you-know/ por Antonieta hace pocos segundos [...]
May 15, 2008 at 3:19 pm rating: 0
#31
Canthz_B
You don’t have to put up stars, Baby, to be in my show!
May 15, 2008 at 4:10 pm rating: +1
#32
claw71
HEY EVERYBODY!!!!
We’re talking about you in TMHQ. Come on over and see what we’re saying.
I DARE you!
May 15, 2008 at 4:41 pm rating: +3
#33
claw71
It’s a link at the top of the page on the right….TROUBLEMAKER HQ. It’s so easy to click. You don’t have to post at all, you can just spy on us and then use our comments against us later.
(Of course the cool people register and join the discussion.)
May 15, 2008 at 4:45 pm rating: +3
#34
KittyKat
I know all about TMHQ, guys. I just have so many other fun things to do all day, like plow through miles of sales reports, keep the retards on track and listen to clients whine about the price of tea in China. I’m afraid MP is all I can manage.
Thanks, CB, but don’t worry . . . I’m a big girl, I can take it. I thrive on pain (and yes, the inuendo is totally intentional.)
May 15, 2008 at 5:19 pm rating: 0
#35
claw71
Pan god, please forgive me. I ruined your site with my insolence.
May 15, 2008 at 5:42 pm rating: 0
#36
Canthz_B
I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but after a few cups of coffee my only “Point of Interest” in the restroom is the urinal.
May 15, 2008 at 6:30 pm rating: +1
#37
Canthz_B
P.S. Please don’t do drugs in here. Do them out back by the dumpster during my 10 o’clock break.
May 15, 2008 at 6:33 pm rating: 0
#38
Bill Vincent
I’m sorry, but I think everyone is missing the point. The ‘barista’ (whiney bitch) gets cranky if the bathroom is trashed, causing her to make lousy coffee. I see no suggestion that there is going to be poop in the coffee. Unless, of course, you’re all 12 years old and that’s the most amusing thing in the world for you….
May 15, 2008 at 6:34 pm rating: +1
#39
RunBarbara
ignore this comment, please.
May 15, 2008 at 7:07 pm rating: +3
#40
george
photoshopped
May 15, 2008 at 10:08 pm rating: 0
#41
Agent Inspired
I’m sure the manager is going to have fun trying to remove that note, and then have fun explaining the nuances of food service ettiquette (I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s my fault, and I’m sorry for not apologizing fast enough, where would you like that lip service..?) to this particular person.
Unless the store doesn’t value its customer service reputation, in which case, more power to ya, but I’m getting my coffee somewhere else.
May 15, 2008 at 11:36 pm rating: 0
#42
Molly
I understand about the drugs thing though, I used to work at a cafe where people were always shooting up in the bathroom and nodding off in there for hours…
It’s a case of, “I get paid ten dollars an hour, which is not enough to clean up your biological hazards.”
May 16, 2008 at 12:50 am rating: +1
#43
known unknown
I have huge issues with anyone working in food service who has a problem with cleaning… and with not being a bitch.
shitty coffee AND I can’t do my drugs in the bathroom? What kind of demon are you?
May 16, 2008 at 1:15 am rating: 0
#44
ryankh05
But I only go there to do yay yay in the bathroom!
Whatever – the lines were too long anyway. Lazy Barista.
May 16, 2008 at 1:25 am rating: 0
#45
Neil
The person who posted the note should be fired…it is unfortunate that she has to clean the washroom in a world full of messy and gross people….However, the quality of the coffee being served should never be contingent upon an employees mood????Nor should the quality of the coffee ever be part of the equation…..a more proffesional note would have requested customers to respect the washrooms…BUT NEVER EVER should something like the quality of food products be threatened…..especially in relation to the stores dirty washroom!!!
May 16, 2008 at 3:56 am rating: 0
#46
brouhaha
That is fabulous. I wonder if the barista who wrote that was the one I saw getting flak from an idiot the day before yesterday… sigh. I was so taken aback by the customer’s behaviour that I blogged about it – and I hope she reads it. Not that she’ll know it’s about her. Sigh.
May 16, 2008 at 7:24 am rating: 0
#47
jayne
thank you, agent inspired and neil. that’s all i’d been trying to say in the first place.
May 16, 2008 at 10:29 am rating: 0
#48
claw71
I love some of the more serious comments.
Like you’re going to get “professionalism” out of somebody earning $7.00 an hour to sell overpriced coffee and clean up the fecal spray of patrons who suffer an adverse reaction to caffeine. And spare me the line about if you’re going to do a job, do it right…whatever gramps, now go change your Depends and find your uppers.
That’s why low level service jobs are best done by immigrants or the developmentally disabled. Immigrants are just happy to be employed (plus they can add to the global mystique of the place) and you can trick a retard into thinking that he’s the vice president of restroom sanitation.
I prefer hiring illegal immigrants because you can abuse them and they won’t complain (Juanita, come over here and steam my cream…NOW!)…but you know, there is a tax credit if you hire Corky…
May 16, 2008 at 11:25 am rating: +2
#49
KittyKat
Mmmmmm, I love steamed cream.
May 16, 2008 at 12:26 pm rating: 0
#50
S.S.
Wait, so the barista cleans the bathroom AND mixes my drinks?!
Eeeeeew, I’m drinking at home from now on.
May 17, 2008 at 3:49 pm rating: 0
#51
Denise
Oh, this is so true. I love this note. When I lived in Seattle I worked at Starbucks and I often had “bathroom duty”. Bathroom duty included finding many a heroin needle. The fact that our bathroom had coded locks (so we could screen junkies) still didn’t prevent the problem.
The thing this barista doesn’t realize is that the junkies don’t buy coffee. They just ask for a water and then dump half of it out and try and fill the cup up with half and half and Sugar in the Raw.
May 18, 2008 at 8:21 am rating: 0
#52
Desmond
But… but there is a pronoun antecedent mismatch.
May 18, 2008 at 11:49 am rating: 0
#53
Mung Bean
Oh my.
The words “barista” and “cleans this bathroom” should never, EVER appear in the same sentence.
Go Team Peet’s Coffee. I’ll never think of Tully’s quite the same way again.
May 19, 2008 at 11:50 am rating: 0
#54
Charlotte
Point of interest: the people who read this passive-aggressive note are the same people you are trying to get to buy coffee, thus fueling your paycheck. Try not to insult them.
I do understand her pain a bit, though; I get tired of my sort-of friends congratulating themselves for managing to smoke pot or do shrooms in the bathroom of the local Starbucks. Nobody’s impressed, guys.
May 26, 2008 at 3:06 am rating: 0
#55
sir jorge
who cares, i say let them do drugs! (and of course i mean caffeine)
Jun 19, 2008 at 6:34 pm rating: 0
#56
Cynic
I’m sick of the word “barista”, and of the pretentious coffeehouses that insist on using it.
Jun 28, 2008 at 8:23 am rating: 0
#57
tomservo
Drugs are bad…mmkay?
Jul 2, 2008 at 1:18 pm rating: 0
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