← All confessions · Office 2026-10-16

Notes in the Printer

For six months someone left handwritten compliments in the office printer. She finally hid and waited.

How it started

It started on a Tuesday. I went to collect a report from the third-floor printer and found a folded sticky note on top: 'Your laugh makes Mondays survivable.' No name. The next week: 'You were right in that meeting, and they knew it.' Then: 'Nice jumper. The green one is better.' For six months, every few days, a new handwritten note appeared in the printer tray, always when I'd sent something to print, always in the same neat capitals. I checked handwriting on birthday cards. I suspected half the office. My work bestie made a spreadsheet. Eventually I sent a fake print job, ducked behind the supply cupboard and waited.

Then it happened

It was Daniel from IT. The quiet one who fixed my laptop and never made eye contact. He saw me, went bright red, and said, 'This is my nightmare.' I said it was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. We've been together two years. He still leaves notes. These days they're on my pillow. My work bestie took full credit for the spreadsheet.

The morning after

The whole third floor found out within a week, and productivity has never recovered. People now leave anonymous notes in the printer as a joke. IT says the toner budget has tripled. She keeps every note in a shoebox under the bed, numbered.