PassiveAggressiveNotes.com » Boston

Faux (feu) pas

Kerry — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:30:13 +0000

To me, this note is like that scene about 17 minutes into an episode of Law & Order, when the detectives run into an overly-talkative building manager and ask him he’s seen anything suspicious lately. Then, inevitably, the guy says something like, “Well, now that you mention it, ’bout two days ago, one of the residents tried to burn some old bloody clothes in that fireplace over dere. I guess the guy wasn’t too smaht, cause he didn’t figure out that fireplace ain’t real. You know, it’s just for show.”

The Ring 3: Death by Sandwich

Kerry — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 22:16:20 +0000

Matt, a law student in Boston, surmises that this note posted in the school’s student lounge was written by non-native English speaker — “the other possibility being that the stress of exams has eaten away at his ability to write coherently.” But what’s curious about this note isn’t the spelling and grammar so much as the the variety and specificity of immediate punishments that are promised within.

“For example,” asks Matt: “Will the food choke the perpetrator, or will Frank be the choker? How will the burns be administered to the sleeper?” And so on. ”In any case,” he adds, “at least the various threatened deaths won’t be drawn out. (Also, to the best of my knowledge, there is no ‘video record’ of the refrigerator.)”

What, you were expecting a “How can I help you?”

Kerry — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 02:02:35 +0000

Brian in Boston spotted this aggressively service-y sign at a sandwich shop counter. Says Brian: “The girl working seemed to think that putting this up would be more effective than actually being polite and attentive.” (Further musings re: her state of mind were stymied by a “Whadda YOU lookin’ at??” glare.)

related: Service with a snarl

The neighborhood warning wagon

Kerry — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 22:33:07 +0000

Upon moving into their new college house this fall, Danny and his roommates at Boston College received this delightfully punctuated welcome letter from their next door neighbor — delivered via U.S. Postal Service, no less.

I, for one, can’t wait ’til the Ben Affleck adaptation comes out. We’ll have a “late night beer party” to celebrate!

related: Passive voice abuse

Dr. Doolittle gets tough

Kerry — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 01:24:44 +0000

Jane in Boston says this note appeared on Tomio’s bedroom door, at cat’s-eye level. “Given that I’m pretty sure cats can’t read, it’s the ultimate passive-aggressive sentiment,” Jane says, “but a cat shitting on your bed is pretty passive aggressive, too. What a tangled web we weave.”

Meanwhile, a submitter in Cornwall, England spotted this note (again, at pet’s-eye level) on the front door of a house. “It was unclear what the dog had done, how the notewriter expected the dog to read this, or how ‘Diane’ was filming the dog,” our submitter says. “There was no sign of a camera.”

And yet, it’s this commandment —posted by a neighbor of Marissa in San Francisco — that tickles me the most.

UPDATE: A bonus note (via Anthonio in Seattle), from…Dirt.

A few choice words from Mom

Kerry — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 21:00:02 +0000

Mothers truly skilled in the art of passive-aggression don’t need much to make their feelings known.

Just ask Rachel in Boston, who recently finished a three-semester master’s program a few months later than expected. “My mom was less than thrilled that my nine classmates finished on time while I struggled to edit my final paper,” Rachel says. “When I finally finished, we had a small graduation party, and she presented me with this gem of a cake.”

Meanwhile, writes our submitter in Madison, Wisconsin: “My mother has a bit of a ‘thing’ against any sort of carbonated beverage and constantly refers to diet soda as ‘the devil’s brew.’ I recently bought a little pack of the mini-cans of Diet Coke, and left one on the computer desk. After arriving home one evening, I found that my mother had kindly re-labeled one of my empty cans for me.”

In recognition of this particular skill, Amazon.com has apparently farmed out the writing of their suggested “PayPhrases” to stay-at-home Moms across the country…as Jessica in California noticed, on a double-take.

A supposedly fun thing I’ll never do again

Kerry — Mon, 24 May 2010 00:54:48 +0000

Jessica from Halifax was perusing the comment board of a small restaurant on Salt Spring Island, B.C. when she spotted this tasty tale of shellfish-related woe.

Meanwhile, Charlie found this scary story (and the impressively deadpan response) pinned to the comment board at the River Street Whole Foods in Cambridge, Mass.

related: The EGG SALAD BAN

So…the water cooler’s hosting rainbow parties again?

Kerry — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

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

related: and all the pieces matter

Why the “seething and waiting” strategy will never get through to a messy roommate: they are oblivious to your blind rage!

Kerry — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:27:35 +0000

Laura lives in a four-person suite at Boston College, where she says one of her suitemates, Christin, is “a notorious neat freak.” What that meant was that Christin and her roommate, Amanda, cleaned the shared bathroom a lot.

“Kelsey and I never did, because they never let the bathroom reach a point where it was actually dirty,” Laura says. They also never figured it was an issue, seeing as, uh, nobody ever mentioned that it was an issue. (“The number of times they have mentioned the state of the bathroom? ZERO.”) So Laura and her roomie were a bit surprised, one day in February, to find this screed on the floor of their room.

related: letter from a narcotic

With a chainsaw?

Kerry — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:40:43 +0000

Spotted at a local restaurant by Kevin in Boston…

AIn arguably heated dispute

Kerry — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:22:53 +0000

Technically, Mike in Boston only has two roommates, but roomie #2′s ever-present girlfriend has become the apartment’s de facto fourth resident…the non-rent-or-utilities-paying kind.

Explains Mike: “We only have one thermostat for the whole apartment, but our rooms are so tiny that we can typically keep the heat off and the place stays at 68-70 degrees.” Once winter came, however, the girlfriend wasn’t too pleased with this arrangement…and took to surreptitiously cranking up the heat into the mid-80s.

After one too many nights of waking up in a sauna, Mike and his allied roommate decided to fight back —in true passive-aggressive style — by removing the (detachable) thermostat from the wall. Drama, of course, ensued.

Mike’s roomie then posted a counter-attack:

Grammar aside, that one pretty much did the trick.

related: kill hamster too?

And God knows what

Kerry — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:33:33 +0000

Most drivers could easily identify these duct-tape wrapped shapes as the universal sign for “Caution: Crazy Person Ahead,” but our submitter in Boston actually pulled over and parked in order to get a better look. Up close, “the signs were even crazier than we thought,” she reports. “Seriously, what happened to this guy?”

related: Movin’ out (Anthony’s song)

Stop! In the name of clip art.

Kerry — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:28:18 +0000

Like this phrase, there are a few irritating little pieces of clip art that keep popping up in submissions over and over again. Hovering somewhere near the top of most-wanted list is this pouty little white-gloved dandy.

From the factories of Pittsburgh…

…to the cube-farms of Virginia, this perspiring misanthrope has been spreading his message of intolerance with impunity.

But, once again, it’s a note from a church bathroom (this one spotted by Jess in Boston) that really pushes things to a whole new level of divine didacticism.

Can I get a witness?!

related: clip art crimes

The sincerest form of passive-aggression

kerry — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:18:07 +0000

Laura in Boston says one of the restrooms at her school is a real note bonanza. The inside of the stall features no fewer than four individual notes about proper flushing etiquette, and immediately outside the restroom are two (slightly contradictory notes) about proper door opening/closing procedure.

But what’s most interesting? How a couple of those notes look awfully familiar...