Caroline sends this delightful trio of holier-than-thou notes from “a rather famous university in Scotland where many students and staff have delusions of grandeur.”
The first note was spotted, Caroline says, while exiting a building “where many people work late and lights are almost always burning to help us find our way through the maze of corridors. I found these stuck to just about every light switch in the vicinity. Luckily, I snapped a picture as the next day they were all crumpled into balls and thrown on the floor in what i assume was a protest against sexualising light switches.”
(“Next time,” she adds, “I will make sure my light switch is fully satisfied before I leave.”)
The second note, Caroline says, “is posted in a building where, due to the age of the pipes, the water is filled with lead and unsafe to drink, meaning water coolers are conveniently posted on most floors. I know we are a biology building and we have to care about the environment and blah blah blah, but while we are doing our world-saving research, would it be ok if we just had a cup of water that isn’t going to kill us?” [Ed. note: Yes, the note-writer has a point.]
The final note is posted next to the door leading to one of the outside smoking areas. “Unfortunately,” Caroline says, “it tends to have the opposite effect than intended. Every time I see it, I find myself having to sneak one in.”
Moral of the story this website: even if you’re on the most solid moral/ethical/logical/legal ground, writing an snotty note about it will backfire on you more often than not. [insert maniacal emoticon]
related: Al Gore knows you know drove when you could have taken your new bicycle
106 responses so far ↓
#1
Watchtower
This is a very funny title.
First time poster, love the site, love the commentary, and for the last week thinking of the word unitard (and all of its applications) still cracks me up!
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:26 pm rating: 7
#2
snee
yeah switch, i turned you on…so i could have sex with the lights on. got busy. get over it.
now for a refreshing bottle of dasani. and a smoke.
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:28 pm rating: 27
#3
R.M.
When you see a girl wearing TOMS and carrying a nalgene you know who the note writer is…
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:29 pm rating: 4
#4
sonicmega
You know it’s serious business when the thought police get involved.
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:32 pm rating: 11
#5
snee
light, i turned you on and left you because you have a tiny switch.
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:33 pm rating: 40
#6
OhLawdy
Light switch, I turned you on and left because I’m a tease.
And you love it.
WHEN WILL I SATIATE YOU? You don’t know! And that’s half the fun.
Bow chicka bow wow, indeed.
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:41 pm rating: 4
#7
leftfoot
Hey at least it’s an anti-cigarette sign. Every time I see those anti-weed commercials, I black out. When I come to I find myself with a joint in my hand.
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:49 pm rating: 22
#8
Watchtower
Why would people crumple these dirty lightswitch notes away and cast them aside? I’d take one home and keep it for special occasions when I’m feeling naughty.
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:53 pm rating: 9
#9
Tracie
I believe Caroline means “delusions of grandeur”, not “illusions”.
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:09 pm rating: 7
#10
KatieMB
I would turn off the lights but I am too busy smoking my cigarette while I fill my reusable bottle with nasty tap water.
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:15 pm rating: 9
#11
Woman on the Verge
That damn lightswitch is a vindictive bitch.
“You turned me on and left me so now I am going to waste energy and harm the environment. So there.”
I don’t know about the switch, but I’m turned off.
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:19 pm rating: 6
#12
ClearlyDemented
Dear Note #2 Notewriter,
PANotes are required to be simple, poorly punctuated and read in your mother’s voice. While we appreciate your attempt with your unnecessary bullet points and your indecipherable parenthetical, it is obvious you need some additional pointers. We request that in the future your notes do not include more than three multisyllabic words and do not conjure up images of Rick Moranis. We appreciate your cooperation in this matter in the future and look forward to your future notes on the benefits of Brita pitchers.
XOXO,
PAN.com
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:27 pm rating: 10
#13
harmonicpies
The PAN rebuking the water-drinkers for their wastefulness would have been more effective had it been handwritten on recycled paper, rather than computer generated on printer paper.
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:29 pm rating: 8
#14
Fiona
I love the first one, I need a pad of those post-its!
Aug 9, 2009 at 7:16 pm rating: 2
#15
T.U.M.
Maybe it’s just the ones in my town, but the note doesn’t even have to be snotty or P/A to make smokers cop an attitude. They’ve got such huge chips on their shoulders that any simple “no smoking” sign sends them into a righteous fury that only lighting up where they’ve been politely asked not to can soothe.
Aug 9, 2009 at 7:27 pm rating: 11
#16
bdrizzy
“a rather famous university in scotland where many students and staff have illusions of grandeur.”
Hogwarts?
Aug 9, 2009 at 8:26 pm rating: 16
#17
robyn
Sure, I’ll drink the tap water and pick my teeth with the paint chips from the wall while I’m at it. This university is important and impressive, so grandiose, that it would be an honor to die of university inspired lead poisoning. Maybe I can locate a coffin made of recycled water bottles from a low energy manufacturer.
Aug 9, 2009 at 10:13 pm rating: 11
#18
Wolverine Girl
Maybe the light switches crumpled up all the post-its and threw them on the floor, as a protest against Comic Sans which, let’s face it, is a real turn off.
Aug 10, 2009 at 1:29 am rating: 6
#19
Zayni
oh dear that’s my university. the sustainable development department is a little gungho.
Aug 10, 2009 at 6:43 am rating: 2
#20
Party in my Pants
What a waste of post-its!! Not to mention the amount of money spent on having them specially printed. They could have used some “stimulus money” to hire someone to walk around and turn off the lights. Create another job…
Aug 10, 2009 at 8:00 am rating: 1
#21
aaa
Well, I wasn’t going to think about smoking since I don’t smoke, but now you’ve got me all thinking about it and I can’t stop thinking about it. Gee. Thanks.
Aug 10, 2009 at 9:51 am rating: 4
#22
Holiday Djinn
I would paste a picture of Dennis Leary over the “don’t even think about smoking sign” with a simple caption that says, Fuck you!
Aug 10, 2009 at 9:54 am rating: 4
#23
Stephen
I guessed what university it was correctly (I live there) and found another note in the same series. Not as unintentionally funny, but the personification of rubbish is a bit twee. Click on my name to see the PDF, Comic Sans and all.
Aug 10, 2009 at 1:12 pm rating: 2
#24
aaa
What? No anthropomorphism tag? You’re slacking, Kerry. Shame on you. :c
Aug 10, 2009 at 2:15 pm rating: 1
#25
MAMARILLA2
Whoa. A Scot trying to save a penny, how stereotypical is that.
Aug 10, 2009 at 2:39 pm rating: 3
#26
Sarah
Ah, St. Andrews.
Aug 10, 2009 at 3:31 pm rating: 1
#27
??
For being a school concerned with the environment… they sure do waste a LOT of paper… and I hope the ink that they used in their notes is veggie-based!
Aug 10, 2009 at 3:31 pm rating: 2
#28
Hepworth
Now that’s a person who knows how to use time wisely! Writing little snotty notes and sticking them to things, only to have no effect, or an opposite effect. A true time-wasting master, and a person after my own heart.
Aug 10, 2009 at 3:51 pm rating: 1
#29
aaa
Earth first! Make Mars our bitch!
Aug 10, 2009 at 5:23 pm rating: 3
#30
Lisa
Don’t these thoughtless brutes realize that their passive-agressive notes are KILLING TREES?
Aug 10, 2009 at 5:42 pm rating: 2
#31
chris
Indeed, how many trees for one packet of post-it notes, I wonder? YOUR ENVIRONMENTALISM IS A SELF-PARODY!!!
Aug 10, 2009 at 6:05 pm rating: 1
#32
pin
somebody is using printer to write on a post-it.. with comic sans?
Aug 11, 2009 at 8:44 am rating: 2
#33
Nicola
Woo-hoo! My university’s post-its made it to this website. Two points:
1. I twisted my ankle falling down stairs because it was dark.
2. The note is NOT printed on recycled paper.
Aug 12, 2009 at 4:26 pm rating: 1
#34
buyusedcars
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.
Sep 13, 2009 at 6:29 am rating: 0
#35
buyusedcars
haha … the one who is posting the comments
Sep 13, 2009 at 4:13 pm rating: 0
#36
buyusedcars
Hi there, I found your blog via Google while searching for first aid for a heart attack and your post looks very interesting for me.
Sep 13, 2009 at 6:25 pm rating: 0
#37 i congratulate you, but i think you are full of shit
[...] related: al gore knows you’re a little tease [...]
Sep 14, 2009 at 9:22 pm rating: 0
#38 Don’t you want to LIVE? | PassiveAggressiveNotes.com
[...] Your light switch has blue balls. Share0mail [...]
Sep 13, 2010 at 9:04 pm rating: 0
#39 Sometimes a light switch is just a light switch...except when it isn't. | PassiveAggressiveNotes.com
[...] You turned me on and left me. [...]
Nov 5, 2010 at 4:38 pm rating: 0
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