Entries Tagged as 'odor'

Kitchen vigilantes

January 11th, 2010 · 94 Comments

Vaguely fishy notes like this one from Toronto are pretty common around office kitchens…

…but I’ve never seen a note that gets right to the point quite like this one from Amber in San Francisco.

related: It’s not a race (it’s a social construct)

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Tags: fish · kitchen · microwave · odor · office

Sounds like somebody’s got a case of the Mondays…

November 15th, 2009 · 150 Comments

Perhaps Dirty Lady #2 got an office job?

related: the most disgusting thing is a nasty lady

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Tags: "helpful" advice · a little patronizing · hygiene · odor · office

subtle on the nose, with an oddly cloying finish

June 24th, 2009 · 56 Comments

Writes Devra in San Luis Obispo, California:  “I’m visiting my parents in Napa, where they both work at wineries. They recently found out that I smoke cigarettes, and though I’m sure they disapprove, there has been little to no discussion on the matter. My mom wanted me to go with her to a tasting today, [...]

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Tags: moms & dads · odor · smiley · smoking

another unexpected consequence of global warming

June 5th, 2009 · 240 Comments

Writes Mike in Seattle: “I work in a large in-house call center for a giant of the aerospace industry. My office has 50 to 75 technical support folks, many of whom can be somewhat…less than hygienic. Following a rash of uncharacteristically hot days, this note showed up in the mens’ room, accompanied by a bottle [...]

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Tags: hygiene · odor · office · seattle

blowing smoke

May 28th, 2009 · 341 Comments

There’s a guilt trip…

and then there’s a guilt trip.

related: Your hamster died? Well, I can top that.

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Tags: guilt trip · new york · nice stationery · oakland · odor · thanks (but not really)

just sayin’

May 1st, 2009 · 121 Comments

Passive-aggressive? Oh, heavens no! These are just a few selfless public service announcements.
From an office in Oregon…

New Zealand…

and Kentucky…

related: the overly friendly coworker: ruining your day since you held the elevator for her that one time

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Tags: CAPS LOCK · kentucky · noise · odor · office · oregon

Free to be you and me

April 12th, 2009 · 95 Comments

Writes Jay in Miami Beach: “The woman who lives in Apt. 2, right next to the front door of the building, had such a stinky dog smell emanating from her apartment that you could smell it through the closed door.”
Presumably, she could hear everyone’s complaints through the closed door, too.

related: when you can’t blame the [...]

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Tags: dogs · miami · neighbors · odor · oh no you didn't

how many wonders can one cavern hold?

February 4th, 2009 · 132 Comments

after 55 years, the north shore music theatre in beverly, mass. is closing its doors, terrance writes, “and i wanted to preserve the rich history of notes and art that have accumulated over the years.” first up: this artistic series from the intern lounge. (sidenote: intern lounge?!)

related: i’ll tell you what’s classy, though

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Tags: art · massachusetts · odor · shit · toilet

let’s not mince words

October 12th, 2008 · 92 Comments

our anonymous submitter reports that a certain less-than-collegial colleague had the gall to dash off this note while the perfume-wearer in question was standing at the photocopier less than five feet away. and, our submitter adds: “she did not attempt at all to disguise her handwriting.”

related: fight or flight

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Tags: CAPS LOCK · california · exclamation-point happy! · more aggressive than passive · odor · office · oh no you didn't

i’ll tell you what’s classy, though…

September 25th, 2008 · 155 Comments

“let me preface this by saying that the ladies’ room at work is quite clean,” writes angie in stamford, connecticut. “i’m not saying it’s where i eat my lunch, but it’s a very satisfactory restroom.”
it was something of a surprise, then, she says, when this sign appeared on each of the walls and stall doors.

in [...]

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Tags: bathroom · clip art catastrophe · connecticut · odor · office · stamford

fight or flight

July 28th, 2008 · 196 Comments

in terms of the appropriate sympathetic nervous system response, an e-mail subject line like “big favor” is kinda the modern cubicle-dweller’s equivalent of “saber-tooth tiger outside cave!”

(note: this e-mail, our seattle-area submitter says, is from the very same person who brought us this.)
related: perhaps it’s time for a little group therapy?

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Tags: all-staff e-mail · irregular capitalization · odor · office · oh no you didn't · seattle · thanks (but not really) · vomit

scatological poetry slam

July 22nd, 2008 · 221 Comments

given the highly intellectual discussions this site’s commenters have become known for, it seems safe to assume that the question “how are we to judge poetry?” is one that you, dear reader, have no doubt pondered on many an occasion, along with other more academic concerns such as the proper resting state of the toilet [...]

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Tags: canada · illinois · odor · office · toilet · toronto

perhaps it’s time for a little group therapy?

May 19th, 2008 · 112 Comments

our anonymous submitter spotted these notes in the shared kitchen of a “professional building” — one our submitter says is full of shrinks. perhaps one of them could deduce whether “i.e. me” fits the DSM’s criteria for a diagnosis…or whether she’s just having a little trouble with her latin.

related: eau dear
extra credit: “food odors [...]

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Tags: casual xenophobia · food · freudian shit · i.e. or e.g. it's all greek -- or is it latin? -- to me · odor · office fridge · oh snap

when you can’t blame the dog

March 6th, 2008 · 129 Comments

Spotted by Maureen in Cincinnati, Ohio…

(Actually, just kidding — it’s from a conference center in Dayton. But how great would that be?)
related: blame it on Coke

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Tags: bathroom · dayton · odor · ohio

eau dear

February 11th, 2008 · 95 Comments

This oh-so-subtle note was posted by Mary’s former boss, “a pathetic professor in a backwater institution” where 90% of the graduate students happened to be Korean, Japanese, or Chinese.
“Nevermind that he doused himself with great lashings of Brut in an attempt to jazz up the bald-up-top-ponytail-in-back look he had going on,” Mary says. “There were [...]

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Tags: a little insensitive · a matter of taste · clip art catastrophe · fish · microwave · odor · office · spelling and grammar police · university

passive (voice) abuse

December 17th, 2007 · 155 Comments

Amber received this amazing note in an envelope on her doorstep in Sacramento. “I have no idea which neighbor sent this to me, but I can only assume it was the paranoid-looking woman who lives above me,” she says. “But I don’t do drugs. I don’t even smoke cigarettes!”

related: don’t hate the playa

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Tags: a little uptight · drugs · holiday spirit · neighbors · not-so-veiled threats · odor · passive voice · sacramento

WoW, indeed.

November 22nd, 2007 · 63 Comments

You might think a hermit-like Warcraft addict would make the ideal roommate (no noisy sex, no hogging the remote…) but as this little piece of passive-aggressive gold demonstrates, there are some other issues to contend with. Like, say, the stench.

(From an anonymous submitter in Portland, Oregon.)
related: let me help you out

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Tags: "helpful" advice · CAPS LOCK · gaming · get a life · hygiene · odor · portland · roommates

like a rotten sponge

August 5th, 2007 · 22 Comments

by popular demand, ellen in acton, mass. has sent in a photo of the note that appeared next to the one about spitting in the water fountain on her gym’s suggestion board…

the original “no spitting” note has since been taken down, ellen says. “in its place was one saying that people should stop focusing on [...]

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Tags: excessive underlining · gym · massachusetts · odor

Cubicle etiquette

July 17th, 2007 · 103 Comments

This series of signs (all made by one person, and pinned up across an entire bulletin board) is among my all-time favorites. The glorious redundancies, the inappropriate quotation marks, the clip art — oh, it’s just too good.

(Yeah, the last one is blurry. Our anonymous Canadian submitter apologizes.)

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Tags: blitzkrieg approach · canada · cleaning · clip art catastrophe · etiquette · gloriously redundant · music · noise · odor · office · office cop · privacy · spelling and grammar police · unnecessary "quotation marks"

Which one of these is not like the other?

June 6th, 2007 · 49 Comments

Along with the Mad Bomber series, I’d say this note is one for the hall of fame. There are so many amazing elements here I can’t even pick a favorite.

related: care, it makes a difference

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Tags: cleaning · dishes · excessive underlining · exclamation-point happy! · noise · odor · roommates · sex sex sex · university · whiteboard

Microwaves for Dummies

May 27th, 2007 · 8 Comments

I agree with Katrina in Ann Arbor, Michigan — the last  ”…etc.” bullet point is what makes the sign totally genius. And, apparently, effective.
Katrina adds, “Our microwave is a pristine fucking sanctum suitable for storing, say, the Dead Sea Scrolls, so maybe people are leaving the shrink wrap on their Lean Cuisines.”

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Tags: "helpful" advice · bullet points · cleaning · michigan · microwave · odor · office

No smelly foods

May 21st, 2007 · 17 Comments

It started with “no smelly foods,” says Kathleen, and escalated from there.

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Tags: excessive underlining · food · group bitchfest · microwave · odor · office