Writes our submitter in California: “Our custodial staff is very careful about not throwing stuff away just because it looks like trash. This co-worker wanted to make sure the right things got thrown away, but might have gotten a little overly specific.”
The result? “An onion of confusion and garbage.”
related: Hey, that garbage was important!
46 responses so far ↓
#1
ariemay
Fox in sox on box …
Oct 17, 2012 at 6:34 pm rating: 19
#2
Elisha
Kind of like one of those photos where a person is holding a picture of the exact same photo and on and on and on…..
Oct 17, 2012 at 6:35 pm rating: 13
#3
Limeliberator
I’m not wanting to be the master of the obvious or anything but why not just dump the trash in the box and label it as such?
Oct 17, 2012 at 6:36 pm rating: 56
#4
Mushroom
But what if there was a little box in the trash can with a sticky note in it?
Then we’d wonder if the trash in the box in the trash in the can in the box is trash.
Oct 17, 2012 at 6:36 pm rating: 12
#5
Tesstarosa
Don’t they usually have these little Post It thingies that say “Trash/Buscara” (not sure I’ve got my Spanish right) to put on the boxes. Then you just set the box by the trash can?
Oct 17, 2012 at 6:36 pm rating: 3
#6
Greg House
Okayyyyyy…. so, if the box is trash, and the trash can is NOT trash, but the trash in the trash can is trash, so why not take the trash can out of the box, dump said trash from trash can into box, and then put a sign on the box that just says ‘TRASH”… the note writer is a boob.
Oct 17, 2012 at 6:37 pm rating: 12
#7
vegnation
I’m picturing a Venn diagram of (a) the set of people who have the intelligence and patience to take time out of their busy job to decipher the note on the box, and (b) the set of people who don’t know that trash cans, although they hold trash, are not themselves trash. The only person in the overlapping section is a 25-year old custodial worker who dropped out of his Physics graduate program because of mental health issues and now spends most of his shift locked in the broom closet with the works of Neal Stephenson.
Oct 17, 2012 at 6:48 pm rating: 34
#8
shwo!
It’s kind of like the movie Inception, except as a trash can.
Oct 17, 2012 at 7:03 pm rating: 33
#9
Ely North
Yeah, I’d just take the box and everything in it and toss it all in the dumpster. I don’t have time for reading notes on boxes. I have toilets to scrub.
Oct 17, 2012 at 7:25 pm rating: 17
#10
Daniel
This is what Magritte would have painted if he worked in an office.
Oct 17, 2012 at 7:38 pm rating: 8
#11
Ryan
I would have just broken down the box and put it under or behind the trashcan. But then, I’m not completely inconsiderate…
Oct 17, 2012 at 7:53 pm rating: 26
#12
Nahhh
I’d have just left a reply on another Post-It: “Trash-can liner is removable.”
Oct 17, 2012 at 9:14 pm rating: 5
#13
Mel K
Can’t the box be recycled or be reused by someone in the mailroom?
Oct 18, 2012 at 4:54 am rating: 1
#14
Gniz
Way to over-complicate things. Plus, (and this is just based off my experience in various offices), sometimes the janitorial staff don’t always speak fluent English, and this sign would be crazy to try to comprehend.
Oct 18, 2012 at 10:11 am rating: 4
#15
hmmm
yeah, recycling people. in MA it’s required.
Oct 18, 2012 at 1:58 pm rating: 0
#16
Joe Blow
Why does the trash can have to remain in the box?
Oct 18, 2012 at 4:16 pm rating: 1
#17
Polly
Note writer should remember that not all cleaning ladies/gents have a perfect mastery of English.
Every cleaner understands that the stuff in the various trash receptacles gets tossed. Want other litter removed? Slap a “TRASH” label on it (or a label provide by your cleaning service with the word(s) their workers understand).
Keep it Simple.
Oct 18, 2012 at 7:05 pm rating: 0
#18
Le Lac
Because breaking down the box or putting the box on top of the trash can was too simple…
Oct 19, 2012 at 11:44 am rating: 1
#19
Margaret
It reminds me of the Berenstein Bears book, “Inside, Outside, Upside Down.”
I think someone didn’t want to work on real work that day.
Oct 20, 2012 at 5:08 am rating: 1
#20
G. B. Miller
Sadly, we have to do this at work. If we don’t label something as “trash” (English and Spanish), it will not be taken away. It will sit in the hallway until dust bunnies appear and make it hop away.
Oct 20, 2012 at 5:25 pm rating: 1
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