I’ll start with the moral of the story first: “It just goes to show you that passive aggressive notes are funny but not effective.” That observation comes courtesy of Janell in San Francisco, who admits that she penned the following note after her third coffee mug went missing from the office kitchen.
Explains Janell: “While a lot of people commented on the note, my mug never appeared. After six months passed, my boss bought me an identical mug just so I would take the note down. A year later, one of my co-workers quit. We found the mug in his office.”
related: Justice, with a side of fries
extra credit: The Anti-Theft “Plug Mug”
56 responses so far ↓
#1
StephM
I wonder if he wanted to return it but was too embarrassed after the note went up, in case someone saw him. Shoulda returned it anyway, explained that he didn’t mean to walk out with it (that’s my guess since it was still in his office; if he wanted to steal it he would have taken it home.) and apologized. But now you have two mugs!
Sep 12, 2012 at 2:42 pm rating: 3
#2
Captain Hampton
How cheap do you have to be to steal someone else’s mug? Get some scruples, bro.
Sep 12, 2012 at 3:03 pm rating: 19
#3
Thunder McKing
The office equivalent of the death bed confession.
Sep 12, 2012 at 3:11 pm rating: 67
#4
Trixie.in.Dixie
Where I work we run dishwashers every night for the dishes that are used for meetings and clients, etc. If you put anything personal in the dishwashers, the items will end up in the cabinets with all the other public stuff the next morning, so you have only yourself to blame if someone pulls your mug out of the cabinet to use.
Sep 12, 2012 at 3:39 pm rating: 10
#5
Adriana
My boyfriend and I read this together and we started coming up with all these alternative possibilities, like maybe he bought his own San Francisco Starbucks mug. The best one, though, is that the real culprit planted the mug in that guy’s office knowing that he had quit. Dun dun duuuuuuuuuun.
Sep 12, 2012 at 5:43 pm rating: 122
#6
Ali Longworth
I’m glad she got her mug back but, personally, I don’t want anything that LIKES morning meetings.
Sep 12, 2012 at 7:55 pm rating: 11
#7
shepd
That mug gets some terrible reviews on amazon. The first mug where most of the reviews says it leaks. Even the dollar store can get that much right!
Sep 12, 2012 at 7:58 pm rating: 1
#8
Lola T. Bean
Maybe her mug just wanted to strike out on his own… Maybe he didn’t REALLY like morning meetings?
Sep 12, 2012 at 8:19 pm rating: 20
#9
lana
I had a string of mug thefts that I attempted to thwart by buying increasingly ugly mugs. The mugs continued to be appropriated until I bought a Che Guevara mug. I figured (correctly) that the stock brokers I worked with would avoid it like the plague. I found out later they wouldn’t drink out of it because they thought it was Charles Manson.
Sep 12, 2012 at 10:08 pm rating: 106
#10
Jami
I wouldn’t say notes never work. Years ago I brought my favorite mug to work from home because my brother kept using it. (It had wolves on it. Therefore it was “manly” enough for him.)
Sure enough, everyone at my new job kept using my mug. That wasn’t the problem, the problem is they never washed it after using it. One time I picked it up and found it full of ants.
So I left a note that I thought was nice but maybe some people would see it as a PAN saying “I don’t mind if you use my mug, but please wash it after you do. I found ants inside it. Thank you.”
After that, they stopped using my mug completely.
Sep 12, 2012 at 10:29 pm rating: 27
#11
Tesselara
Actually, note WIN! Everyone knew that it was her mug and were able to return it to her loving arms (to once again enjoy oatmeal and morning meetings in joyous reunion).
Sep 13, 2012 at 7:10 am rating: 3
#12
The Elf
Not that I support office thefts, but I do have to wonder why people leave stuff they like in shared spaces. It’s bound to walk eventually. Just wash your mug, dry it out, then put it back at your desk. It might still walk, but at least someone would have to go through your clearly defined space to get to it. That alone will deter most opportunists.
Sep 13, 2012 at 8:30 am rating: 15
#13
The Elf
That anti-theft mug reminds me of the heart-plugs from Dune (1984 movie version). I expect blood to come gushing from it, as a floating fat man circles the room, laughing manically.
The Mug Thief will die before these eyes, and he’ll know – HE’LL KNOW – that it is I, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who encompasses his doom!
A passive-aggressive note has been written. The forms of kanly have been obeyed.
Sep 13, 2012 at 8:37 am rating: 10
#14
Fireseeker
It seems her question mark went the way of the mug; it too is missing.
Sep 13, 2012 at 8:55 am rating: 4
#15
JPop
I try to picture everyone’s office environment where this is happening. I work in an office w/ 6 people. We NEVER steal each other’s lunches from the fridge and we certainly do not walk off with each other’s mugs. You’d have to be NUTS to grab my Elvis mug. I’d be like, “Excuuuuse me!??” Gross!
Sep 13, 2012 at 9:21 am rating: 3
#16
Dane Zeller
Advice to victims of thievery: you can increase your chances of getting your stuff back by not putting requirements on it’s return. I would not have asked that the mug be washed. It’s like asking someone who steals money from you to return it along with 6% annual interest.
Sep 13, 2012 at 9:24 am rating: 9
#17
AlfaCowboy
This doesn’t seem passive aggressive to me. It just sounds like a polite request in note form.
Sep 13, 2012 at 11:32 am rating: 5
#18
Beatus Mongous
Creative services people are bitches.
Sep 13, 2012 at 11:37 am rating: 1
#19
Nunavut Guy
I’m keeping an eye on the knife and the spoon.
Sep 14, 2012 at 1:58 pm rating: 1
#20
feleepe
So, I had this Buzz Lightyear glass that I loved with all my heart. I realize this makes me sound 8 years old, but whatever.
Anyway, our company moved and on the moving day somebody set my glass on the floor along with other kitchen crap (we were planning on washing it before re-using) and another somebody accidentally kicked it, shattering it in a million pieces. I was so disappointed to hear about it that I didn’t have the heart to even get angry. I just sighed in frustration.
The point I was getting to is: I’d rather somebody stole it and left it to me one year later. At least I’d have it right now.
I miss you, Buzz :’(
Sep 17, 2012 at 9:34 am rating: 3
Comments are Closed