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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Now Who Would Do Such a Thing?

In the last couple weeks, someone has been taping “fun facts” to the stall walls in the bathrooms at work.

It started out, I’m relatively sure, as an attempt at being helpful.

“Skim milk before bedtime is proven to induce sleep.”

“Early morning stretches enrich the muscles with blood.”

Normally, these would not be the reading materials I’d reach for whilst indulging in a “bio break”; but get it while you can, as I always say.

As one might suspect, however, what starts with only the best of intentions has been hijacked and someone has taken it upon themselves to tape, willy-nilly, their random and sometimes completely irrelevant thoughts.

Who would do that?

Some of them, of course, speak to the reality of many of our current co-workers: You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

Some of them may only be speaking to me: "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this – ever.

And some of them speak to all of us: Perhaps it’s time you lowered your expectations.

I appreciate this person’s attempts to bring a little levity into our work day.

I just wonder who it is…

46 comments:

Polly Scott said...

Is it you?

Sausage said...

It's the Pearl! right...

David Macaulay said...

beats the old school aiming contest, i guess

Grant said...

On Monday, add "And now the troll that lives in my sock drawer is telling me to kill everyone in the building. Is that wrong? Or merely impolite?"

Pearl said...

I can neither confirm nor deny... And Grant? I am SO going to do that Monday... :-)

Jinksy said...

I think it could catch on as a pastime...

Macy said...

Is it the same thought in every cubicle or does every box have a different theme???

Linda O'Connell said...

Sounds like pearls of wisdom to me!

Desperate Housemommy said...

I'm so glad you dropped by earlier...returning the visit and LOVING it! Sneaky little beggar you have in your office...hmmmm.

Hilary said...

Before you know it, you'll have a huge following. Folks will head over from other work places every day to see what appears on your bathroom wall. You've brought Facebook into the real world!

Silliyak said...

How about "Don't believe everything you think (read?)"

Douglas said...

These are much better than the obscene etchings on most restroom stalls. Now that I think about it, why do they call them "restrooms", no one does any resting in them, do they? I have, on occasion (many, many years ago, I assure you) woken up in one (with a terrible headache) but I never felt rested.

Unknown said...

Right away, I thought, "that's Pearl!"

Dazee Dreamer said...

Oh my. If I wasn't deathly afraid of the biohazard room aka the mens room, I would totally put crap like that in there.

Being the only woman at my place of employment I don't need to hang notes for myself. :)

Barbara Blundell said...

Look no further .The culprit could be close at hand. No other than LIza Bean Bitey ( of the Minneapolis Branch )

jabblog said...

It's contagious - or is that infectious?

Oilfield Trash said...

I laughed when I saw the skim milk comment considering that my post on Wednesday was a funny post about skim milk. If you didn't read it, go read it and then you will see why I am laughing.

Irish Gumbo said...

Hey! Quit stealing my ideas! :))

Notes From ABroad said...

Whoever it is, I hope they procreate, there is a need for people with a little imagination, ya know ?

Alan W. Davidson said...

Our work (a drafting office) once put a note in the bathroom about remembering to flush the toilet. Sad that people need the reminder. ANyway, some wit started putting up notes like "Wash your hands" and "use toilet paper" and "through paper towels in garbage". The management once sent an email out reminding male employees NOT to use the female washroom...

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

Someone needs to get a life or a twitter account.
xoRobyn

Sioux Roslawski said...

Perhaps you need to dust the notes for fingerprints so you can ascertain who it is...Unless you already KNOW who it is!

This has given me a great idea. I think I am going to start a similar "project" in our staff bathroom.

Pat Tillett said...

this is almost enough to make me want to go back to work to do it. Not really....

It was a good post and a funny story though!

e said...

Funny story Pearl! We have a suggestion box at work and one of the anon comments was "if you are doing a #2, could you please do an in between courtesy flush for the sake of the person in the next stall" ! They had a point I guess!

Gigi said...

Hmmm, I wonder if the culprit would be willing to come visit our work bathroom?

Jhon Baker said...

I think it's probably you.

Cheeseboy said...

Come on, we all know it's you. It's true about the tumble wash thing though.

Indigo Roth said...

We had Warning - your stairs may go down as well as up. Another of yours?

HumorSmith said...

Well, gee....I wonder who? Maybe with a little deductive reasoning, you can flush out the culprit.

Tempo said...

It sounds like your loving readers suspect you Pearl... as do I. Speaking personally, I'd be right in that but the blokes where I work have no sense and no sense of humor.

Flea said...

It could be anyone. The world may never know. How very sad that such entertaining talent will remain hidden.

When in college, I taped comics to the stall walls. And along the sides of the mirrors. Mother Goose and Grim was the best, since it didn't have a recurring story. Calvin and Hobbes got lots of wall time.

Andrew said...

That's not a bad idea....
Someone posted inspiration messages on the walls all over my work, and I just find it kind of annoying.

Fun factoids would be much better!

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

A note addiction? lol What if more workers do the same? It could get very busy as evryone needs bio breaks just to keep up with the notes.

On My Soapbox said...

I bet it's the custodian....

Rebecca said...

great post

Belle said...

I was once in a stall that had, "Nice Genitals!" written on the door. It gave me a smile for the day.

Lazarus said...

OK, you started it with the toilet humor Pearl. The funniest thing I ever saw written in a stall was in San Antonio (no offense meant here to our terrific Texan friends...). It said "Here I sit, butt cheeks a flexin', Giving birth to another Texan." Made me laugh. Again, apologies to the Lone Staters, good people all...

Symdaddy said...

No comment!

Sandra said...

This is hilarious Pearl! I love the one about "do not machine wash or tumble dry"...or else what? I would have picked up a pen and written that at the bottom of the note: or else what? What will happen? Because at some point I will need to get dressed.
Funny! I wonder if you'll ever discover the culprit.

Anonymous said...

If I was there I would post up "Beware of limbo dancers"

River said...

I LOVE Grant's suggestion!
And I can relate to the one about knowing when you won't do anything productive for the rest of the day. I know that point well, and once I've hit it, I just want to go home.

Cheryl said...

Still smiling....

Roses said...

I'm a big fan of notes in Bathrooms. Unfortunately, that'll never take off in my places of work, because clients use them.

Bor-ring.

Jon in France said...

This is quite excellent!

Whoever it is could start adding more philosophical messages: "It is a long road that has no turnips." for example.

Dr. Cynicism said...

I just wish someone would do this at my workplace. It would distract me from stabbing my eyes with pencils - at least for a little while.

Unknown said...

Confess!!!

It will go easier on you if you just go ahead and confess now.

If not, we'll call in the Spanish Inquisition. Whom nobody expects.