“Due to budget issues,” writes our submitter from Nashville, “coffee in our office is now funded through donations by those who drink it.” (Cost: 50 cents per cup, on the honor system.)
While some office workers no doubt continue to fill their cups without paying, the passive-aggressives in this office found their own way to convey [...]

[Read more →]

At least a half-dozen submitters (including Spencer, Kelsae, and Mark) would pick this one — from a pizzeria in Provo, Utah.
“For those who don’t know, “lower kingdoms” comes from Mormon theology, where they believe that people are sorted out into three kingdoms instead of the traditional heaven and hell option,” Kelsae says.
Adds Spencer: “There’s a [...]

[Read more →]

“Our department head thought we should be be bringing in doughnuts more often,” says our anonymous submitter in Illinois. One of the department’s “severely underpaid” underlings, meanwhile, thought otherwise.

UPDATE: For those of you asking “But where’s the ridiculous clip art?!” I bring you this rather dashing toreador/sheriff (as spotted by Mel in the break room [...]

[Read more →]

Writes Tim: “I work at one of the better specialty coffee shops in Portland, Oregon. Some people come in knowing that we can prepare a fantastic drink, but don’t actually know what they like or how to order it. And sometimes these people decide to write a note expressing their displeasure instead of simply asking [...]

[Read more →]

Another sign of the times: Nick in Tampa, Florida says the sodas in his small office used to be free, but now they cost 50 cents. And yet, Nick says, “when they’re left out unguarded and unsecured, naturally, people steal them.” 
Eventually, one coworker thought instilling the fear of god would make for a good theft-deterrent…which [...]

[Read more →]

Writes Emily in Austin: “In the notewriter’s defense, this machine has also given me regular Coke when I have pressed ‘Coke Zero’ on many an occasion,  so when I saw this note, I thought I had figured it out. If I wanted Coke Zero, I just had to push the button for regular Coke. (I [...]

[Read more →]

This martyr alert spotted by Randy on the breakroom fridge of his office in Chico, California…

related: hostile takeover

[Read more →]

Extra P in Charlottesville, Virginia found this note in his office break room. He draws our attention to two sections in particular: “the ‘let there be closure’ line, which seems more appropriate for a break-up note, and the ‘mark an X if you threw it away’ part, which reminds me of grade school mash notes. [...]

[Read more →]

Our anonymous submitter in Ontario, Canada found this note in the office lunch area. Apparently, the water in the office cooler had been going like crazy until the new pay-per-sip policy was enacted.
“While people were willing to pay,” our submitter says, “whoever was changing the bottles was not doing it as often as before the [...]

[Read more →]

Spotted above the office “water cooler” by “Josh” in Boston…

related: and all the pieces matter

[Read more →]

Writes Joe in Van Nuys, California: “Dave has been upset because people have been drinking his tea. Apparently, he was unaware of other potential Daves in the office. Next time, maybe he should clarify?”

related: who’s the smartass?

[Read more →]

our submitter is santa fe says not everyone at the new mexico department of health was happy when the folks in charge decided to call their own bullshit and replace the candy and sodas in the vending machine with new “healthy” snacks.
(there is still a “junk food” vending machine in the building just one flight [...]

[Read more →]

dale in el segundo, california has the thankless job of ordering office supplies, coffee and whatnot for the cube-farm where he works. really, really thankless. this note appeared on his desk one day attached to a packet of no-sugar-added hot chocolate.

related: refrain/stop/discontinue

[Read more →]

We’ve received several copies of this instructive diagram, which the helpful illustrators of Graph jam have made available to coffee watchdogs the world over.

Seeing people print their passive-aggressive flowcharts off the Internet makes our resident nerd, Eric, sentimental for simpler times. He quietly reflects on time spent wandering the halls of Brown University’s CS department [...]

[Read more →]

i think we’ve received some of your mail by mistake. just wanted to pass these along! xoxo, PAN

related: arrivederci, asshole

[Read more →]

our submitter in london snapped a photo of this note in the kitchen of the PR agency where she works. exactly what you’d expect to find at office full of “communication professionals,” no?

related: switch to tea

[Read more →]

kasey in tucson spotted this orgy of vending-machine notes in the anthropology department of the university of arizona. says kasey, “they just keep adding up. i think the pepsi man is either amused by them or just doesn’t care.” perhaps…or maybe he’s just hanging back until he has enough material for his dissertation on non-verbal [...]

[Read more →]

“it seems too many people have made love to the office water cooler,” says lizzy in new york. and some of them, it seems, are getting a little sloppy.

lizzy says the “office of water” thing refers to the fact that “our office is full of water. like, the fridge doesn’t have anything but bottled water [...]

[Read more →]

spotted by doppelfrog at london’s paddington station…

related: water, water everywhere

[Read more →]

To quote Chris Anderson responding to Milton Friedman: “A free lunch doesn’t necessarily mean the food is being given away or that you’ll pay for it later — it could just mean someone else is picking up the tab.”
Indeed, Craig in New York offers this example of the negative externalities that can come along with [...]

[Read more →]

a possibly prescient note from the offices of yahoo! u.k….

related: just in case you didn’t catch the sarcasm

[Read more →]

curse as much as you want, dude: you’re still bitching about body wash. (personally, that’s what i’d call a gamekiller.)

related: i swear this isn’t some sort of stealth viral marketing campaign

[Read more →]

Which clip art extravaganza is the most gratuitous? You be the judge!
Is it this sign, from the Virginia office of — of course — a major mobile carrier?

Is it this little tea party of a sign from Cambridge, Mass.?

Or is it this one, from, yes, a church restroom?

related: cubicle etiquette

[Read more →]

Casey from Shreveport, Louisiana spotted this on the Coke machine in the office break room. she clarifies: “Henry G.’s comment is in reference to the increase in price, not Katie’s wanting more Coke Zero.”

Meanwhile, Breanna in L.A. saw this somewhat amusing notice in a liquor store on the corner of Hollywood and Wine. (“Did someone [...]

[Read more →]

nobody likes it when food goes missing from the office fridge, but one v8-drinking facilities staffer in savannah, georgia wanted to make her displeasure a bit more official.

adds our anonymous submitter: “as you can see, the pest control department took appropriate action.”

related: if the TSA was in charge of the office fridge? 

[Read more →]