Oops, Sorry
Most people struggle to find joy in their work life, and horrible smells in their shared office make it even harder for them to enjoy their days at work. After all, nobody wants to be typing away to the stench of old ketchup and tuna scraps. And when this worker had enough of smelly trash cans in the office space, they decided to write a polite notice asking people to use a different trash can instead.
What they didn't expect was to be greeted with a passive-aggressive note in return. Not only that, but the passive-aggressive note was written in ketchup! And they did a pretty good job with the penmanship, too.
Note to Self: Fortune 500 Companies Do Not Use Comic Sans
Ouch, talk about hitting someone where it hurts! An employee at this anonymous Fortune 500 company posted a sweet sign asking people to "Please keep the door closed!!!" and even included a polite "Thank you!!!" But no amount of please and thank you could save them because they made one critical, unforgivable mistake: they used the Comic Sans font for the sign. And apparently, Comic Sans is a no-no at Fortune 500s.
Someone answered back to the sign to remind whoever made it that they work at a Fortune 500 company, not a lemonade stand. Ouch!
When Labeling Your Food Doesn't Stop the Office Thief/troll
Okay, say what you want about people who steal coworker's food, but this little thief has some good humor. We certainly don't approve of him eating another person's food, but at least he made the company laugh with this funny sign. It reads, "Strange new trend at the office. People putting names on food in the company fridge. Today, I had a tuna sandwich named Kevin." Paran-cha!
This one made us giggle, but we can't say the same for Kevin. Poor guy - we hope he didn't go hungry on this day.
We Have a Feeling They're Always at 0 Days
Many companies around the world have signs like this in their office in regards to different things. Warehouses might have signs counting down the days since someone last got injured on the job, sales companies might count the days since they're last sales record, etc. So we're not sure what this company focuses on since their sign is counting down the days since someone was last sarcastic.
Not surprisingly, it's been zero days. And it looks like it'll be staying at zero considering someone already wrote something sarcastic on the sign itself!
Totally Friend-Zoned
Whether it's the office manager or just someone who's stepped up above their pay grade, there's always someone who takes on the caretaker role in a shared office space. They're the ones who clean up the shared kitchen, they're the ones who throw out the expired food from the communal fridge, and they're the ones who write reminder notes to those who take in their own food. And, on one hand, we can understand the original note.
But they had to realize that writing something like this was just asking for a hilarious response like this, right? We stand in solidarity with the person who was friend-zoned on three occasions, thogh.
Don't Worry Bout Da Ink
No matter what industry you work in, there's a high chance that you work in an office with a printer. In fact, you might even have a few printers in your office! But on an average day, how many of those printers actually work? Either they've run out of ink, they're jammed, or nobody can work out which buttons they need to press. It might even be one of the most stressful parts of your job.
But instead of getting outright annoyed at this printer, this office worker decided to make fun of the situation instead. And they decided to use good ol' Bob Marley to help them out.
It's so Beautiful
When you work in an office, you have one of two options: You could either use one of the shared office mugs to drink your morning cup of coffee, or you could take in a mug from home. And while some people are content with drinking any old mug, there are others who like the familiarity of their favorite mug with reindeer on it. When you do that, however, you have to deal with the fact that it could be stolen.
This reindeer mug owner obviously didn't like the fact that people were touching their mug, but there's no doubt about the fact that this is one of the most incredible responses we've ever seen. The picture takes it to the next level.
Aren't We All?
What's so remarkable about working in an office is the wide range of people who are all lumped together in one space. In some offices, you have a mixture of nerds, jocks, and those who fall in-between. But almost every office always has someone who sees themselves as somewhat of a philosopher. They question everything, they're often found deep-in-thought, and they're the first ones to open up a discussion about world events.
So, we can only assume that it was the philosopher of this office who decided to write this sticky note. And for some reason, we find the whole thing pretty hilarious.
Or the Pen Gets It
Anyone who has ever worked in an office will know that pens are like gold dust. If you manage to find a pen, you need to hold onto it for dear life and hope that nobody knows your secret. But on this occasion, one office worker was lazy with their pen and left it lying around. Of course, it didn't take their colleagues long to plan an elaborate pen heist.
You have to admire the creativity behind this hostage situation. They could have just told their colleague that they had stolen their pen. Instead, they decided to make some money out of it!
The Office Meme
Have you ever worked in an office and been astounded by the stupidity and the laziness of some of your co-workers? Well, you're not alone. The person who made their very own office meme obviously couldn't take the laziness any longer, and they were done with seeing dirty dishes in the sink all the time. So, they decided to do something about it - and we've never seen anything like this before.
It's the perfect combination of passive-aggressive and funny, and we bet the person who left their mug in the sink felt like a silly billy the next time they tried this stunt.
Pot Calling Kettle
Isn't it so annoying when office managers tell you off for something they also do on a regular basis? The superiority divide in offices is what causes the most tension, and we don't blame the original sticky note sticker for adding this to the paper sign. After all, you can't tell people not to put thumbtacks in the wall when they've used thumbtacks in the wall to hang up the sign.
But what happened next is the epitome of passive-aggression, and we can't get enough of it. We particularly love the person who decided to get involved with purple sticky notes.
Darnit, Debbie!
Every office has a Debbie, right? She's the one who is sickly sweet to your face but steals your food behind your back and tries to get away with it. And while most people will simply look past it and laugh it off as "Debbie being Debbie," it seems as though this office decided to overthrow Debbie and plan an intervention that would hopefully stop her in her hungry tracks.
Sometimes, all it takes is a simple reminder that the food you didn't bring into the office isn't actually yours to eat. But did Debbie take heed, or did she ignore these notes? We guess we'll never know.
We Can't Be Too Sure, but We Think Someone Took One of the Red Bull Cans
The photo below shows a situation in which someone brings their own personal Red Bull to the office, puts it in the communal fridge, and gets one can taken by an anonymous coworker. But the funny part is that whoever took this can made it even more obvious than they needed to; after all, someone is less likely to notice a can missing when there isn't a paper illustrated can to replace it.
We gotta give props to whoever came up with this design; clearly, they have an artistic talent (and a sense of humor).
When Housekeeping Doesn't Clean up the Dead Cricket, the Employees Make It a Memorial
The photo below shows a situation where the cup could've been seen as half empty but employees took it upon themselves to make it half full, instead. After the office housekeeping missed a dead cricket on the floor and left it there for the next day, employees took things into their own hands. But rather than clean up the bug, they created a sweet memorial for it.
"Rest in peace Mr. Cricket, You will be missed," reads one of the sweet signs from the memorial. Clearly, this office knows how to hire funny people.
Go Carolyn
While passive-aggressive office notes are great when you're directing them at multiple people in the same shared office space, they don't have the same impact when you're directing them at one person in particular. After all, everyone knows who you're talking about, and it seems a little cowardly. Carolyn certainly seemed to think the same when she knew this note was about her, so she decided to get her own back.
The fact that she corrected the grammar of the passive-aggressive note that was directed at her is one of the best things that we've ever seen. And we'd like to be friends with Carolyn.
Milk Cartons Can Be Such Brats
You might think that all milk are created equal, but that is not the case. Some milks can be a lot more entitled than others. Take, for example, the milk at this office - apparently, it gets an attitude if the fridge door is left open! As one employee put it with their informative sign, "Milk spoils if door is left open. Please close all the way."
Obviously, this person meant that the milk will go bad health and taste-wise, not that it'll be spoiled in the human sense of the word. But you gotta love the coworker who posted the second note and made this situation funny.
Office Beef
The contents of the office fridge will always cause arguments. Everyone hates the fact that Deborah from Accounts brings tuna fish sandwiches to work every day, others want Stan from HR to put his month-old leftovers in the trash, and it seems as though some people also have beef with Chael's decision to take milk into the office. Apparently, the size of the milk jug was just too big for them to handle.
This passive-aggressive note obviously didn't go down well with Chael, which is why they decided to take the note literally and take a cow into the office. And we don't blame them, really.
Well, They Didn't Say We Couldn't Print a Large STEVE Jobs
Who doesn't love a good play on words? After an office secretary attached a sign above the printer asking employees not to "print large jobs," a fellow employee got inspired. They decided to find a loophole in the sign - they didn't print any large jobs, but they did print one very large Steve Jobs. We're sure this silly play on words made plenty of grumpy employees struggling with the printer giggle for at least a few seconds.
These are the kinds of things that can turn an office day from bad to good; just the fact that someone took the time to do this and make people smile is sweet.
Getting Bored
Unfortunately, stolen food is part and parcel of working in a shared office. The office food thieves just don't seem to have any self-control when they open up the refrigerator and spot TN's Trader Joe's green juice and Daniel's Fage 0% yogurt, and they can't help but steal them without getting caught. And with no witnesses, the victims take to writing passive-aggressive notes on the refrigerator door to try and stop them in their tracks.
On this occasion, however, their notes didn't work at all. Instead, it just inspired the food thief to write their own note and ask the original food owners to mix up their lunches a bit more.
What Would Jesus Do?
This is one of our favorite office life interactions on this list. Someone brought their personal diet coke to the office and tried to guilt everyone else out of drinking their coke by putting a photo of Jesus that said, "Jesus is watching you... steal Diet Cokes." This might've stopped some potential thieves from taking a can, but we have a feeling once this other person's response got posted, people started stealing freely.
"Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.'" Gottem!
See Ya, Suckers
One of the worst things about a co-worker leaving is knowing that you'll probably never see them again. But one of the best things about a co-worker leaving is that they're probably going to bring in some cake - and everyone loves cake, right? That's exactly what this person decided to do on their last day, and they opted to make one last passive-aggressive comment before they walked out for the last time.
This is one of the best things we've ever seen, and there's no doubt about the fact that it's given us some pretty neat ideas. If you're reading this, boss, we're totally kidding!
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
Although some offices rely on their workers to clean up the office after a long work day, most offices employ actual cleaners to get the job done. In theory, this means that the workers can come back the next day to a clean and tidy workspace and not have to worry about anything. But that doesn't always happen - and this is the perfect example of that. Yes, that hair had been there for six months.
Instead of outright approaching the cleaners, they decided to write a passive-aggressive note to see if anyone else in the office had noticed it. And we're going to assume that they had.
The Food Thief
In every office, some people fit certain stereotypes. There's always someone whose breath always smells like coffee, there's always someone who laughs way too loudly and disrupts the whole shared office space, and there's always someone who steals everyone else's food. In this office, the employees were so fed up with their half-eaten sandwiches and toaster strudels that they decided to put up this passive-aggressive sign to ward off the food thief.
But the food thief is a cunning and confident colleague, which is why they should have known that a pass-agg sign wouldn't have done anything to help their situation. In fact, it just made it worse.
Your Own Risk
Although most office managers get a hefty budget to stock up on office supplies like pens and staplers, it doesn't take long for these items to disappear into oblivion. One week after buying 100 pens, there are just two left somewhere under the desk and hidden in the sink. Because of this, many office workers choose to take in their own pens from home - but this does also run the risk of them being stolen.
To stop their pens from being stolen too, this person decided to try a new tactic: scare potential thieves away with a passive-aggressive threat of spit and saliva. We bet it worked, too.
That'll Do It
Some people don't realize that the supplies in an office don't belong to them. So, they do what they want to them and don't care about the repercussions. And while we know that printers and copiers are some of the most infuriating pieces of technology to ever be invented, that didn't give this office worker the right to push the button so hard that it actually broke the whole thing.
The passive-aggressive person who wrote this note obviously didn't appreciate this heavy-handedness either, so they let out their frustrations with this note. But we can't help but wonder who fixed the button in the end.
This Door Is in Shock
For some reason, there's something funny about making inanimate objects have animate actions and feelings. And that must be why the photo below is so funny to us. Someone put up a sign to let people know that the door pictured is an emergency exit only and has an alarm. But instead of writing that the Door "has an alarm" they wrote that the door "is alarmed."
Naturally, an office troll couldn't help but play off of the first sign and added a second giving some emotion to the door.
No Spoilers, Please
Anyone who worked in an office while Game of Thrones was still on our screens will know the struggle. After all, if you didn't watch the latest episode live, or at least before you got to work the next day, you would have been exposed to spoilers whether you liked it or not. But what happens if you just really need an early night and can't stay up to watch the Starks in Winterfell?
Well, this guy decided that his sleep was more important than his TV time, so he hoped that a passive-aggressive note on his door would stop any spoilers in their tracks. Our guess is that this wasn't successful...
What a Weirdo
Working in an office means that you have to rely on office supplies to suit your needs. But what happens when there's a heatwave and you only have tepid water cooler water to cool you down? Well, sometimes you then have to take matters into your own hands. And while this person's co-workers probably wouldn't have bat an eyelid if this person had taken a fan into work, they decided to go one step further and bring some ice from home.
With a limited supply of ice in the freezer, they also wanted to make sure that their co-workers didn't steal any of their precious cool-down essential. These co-workers didn't quite understand the logic, though.
Best Day of Its Life
Most of the time, the office space you work in is a free-for-all. You can walk wherever you want, you can open any drawers that you want, and you can use any rooms that you want. But every so often, there's something the office manager doesn't want you to do - and in this office, the office manager didn't want anyone to engage this deadbolt. And you know what happens when someone is told not to do something, right?
The joker in the office decided to take this instruction with a pinch of salt and quite literally engage the deadbolt with the most important question they've ever asked. We wonder what the deadbolt said!
Do Not Tap
If you have a job that requires a lot of concentration, there's a high chance that you want to be left alone to your own devices. But this can be difficult when you work in a shared office space. So, why don't you take a leaf out of these programmers' books and write a note to your co-workers? You might want to spare a few of the gory details when you write yours, though.
While this passive-aggressive note is pretty funny, we have a feeling that some people in their office would see it as a challenge. So, who can make the programmers cry first?
Scoop Spoons With Spoon Scoop
In a shared office space, maintaining hygiene is key. After all, it doesn't take long for germs to spread around the office like wildfire. And one of the best ways to maintain this hygiene is to keep the dishes and cutlery clean and tidy at all times. It's pretty easy to do this, but it seems as though some offices like to go one step further and come up with crazy hygiene rules.
Take this office, for example. Instead of letting people take their own spoons from the spoon drawer, they make people scoop spoons with a spoon scoop! No, we're not sure why.
An In-Office Museum
Does your office have an inhouse museum displaying antiques and vintage items? No? Well, this office does. Just check out the antique landline wallphone on display. It even has a little description describing what employees/museum visitors are seeing. Apparently, this strange device is a "Office Communication Device" from the year 1985 and originated in the United States. The description explains to unknowing observers that this gadget was "formerly used to communicate with other individuals."
Additionally, it reads that the device also "functioned as a method of transferring communicable disease. We love to learn new facts at the museum!
An Office Apology
While this list is full of food thieves who have stolen their co-workers' food without asking, this picture just goes to show that there are some heroes in this world. It also proves that some people are human, and sometimes they're going to grab a Lacroix from the fridge even though it's not theirs. But what sets one co-worker apart from the rest is their ability to acknowledge their mistake and make it right again.
Yes, when this person took a Lacroix from the fridge, they returned it to the original owner - with interest! We agree with the second note - this person really is awesome.
Printer Patience
This is a PSA to all office managers out there: buy another printer! Although it may seem cost-effective to buy a single printer for an office, the reality is that office workers will spend so much of their time in a printer queue that they'll spend less time doing actual work. After all, when 10 people are trying to print something at the same time, you need some serious printer patience.
When this person was waiting for their documents to print, they decided to get creative and post this meme on the wall. However, the irony that they had to print this is not lost on us.
Nowhere to Be Found
We have no idea where this office is located or who works in it, but we have a feeling this person is quite beloved in the office. If we had to bet money on whether this employee is a people person, we'd bet heavily. After they put a sign up letting people know that "If I'm not here, please check reception," this person was flooded with responses.
"You weren't there either," someone wrote back along with a sad emoji. "Where are you???" someone else based. "We miss you," posted another employee.