Passive Aggressive Notes Can Be Funny…When They’re Not Directed At You

By Candy

I lived with five other people my sophomore year of college. Three boys and three girls. We were all great friends when we moved in, but soon we cordoned off, built alliances and ended the year in veritable silence. It started when two of my roommates who were dating when we signed the lease broke up just before we moved in.

It continued when the boys never locked the door, and one girl was really obnoxious. It also didn’t help that we were politically divided in an election year. I’m surprised no one got stabbed.

But what really drove us apart were the notes. The little post-its I’d find stuck on filthy coffee tables, or the threatening comments on the dry-erase board. Everyday there was an annoying message reminding what I should or shouldn’t do in my own home.

Now there’s a place to laugh at all of those passive-aggressive notes, a great blog aptly-titled passiveaggressivenotes.com. Readers send in notes they find at work, at home or even signs on the street. Some are covered in unnecessary clip-art and capital letters, some are rude, and some can only be described as aggressive. But because they’re no longer littering my home, all of them are hilarious.

I spent the weekend pouring over the archives, having a good laugh and acknowledging that my roommates weren’t half as crazy as some of the nuts out there.

Are any of you living or working with someone who’s preferred method of communication is the passive aggressive note? Would you ever send their note to a web site like this or do you think that would make it worse?