Should I remove my food from the office fridge?
While it’s clear, to me, what this sign really means, I enjoy laughing at potential misinterpretations of things, due to ambiguous wording.
Obviously, the actual intention is for people to remove their own food from the refrigerator, in preparation for a periodic fridge-cleaning, and not to remove the actual sign.
However, the words, “have all food removed” could imply “having someone do something for you.” With that in mind, the message at the bottom, “Please do not remove, will be removed by the Receptionist,” could be interpreted to mean “Don’t trouble yourself with removing your food, yourself. Have the receptionist remove it.”
In fact, if you’re lazy, lack common courtesy, and don’t care about anything you have in the fridge, someone else *will* remove (and dispose of) your food, when cleaning time comes. So, in that case, this sign can just be taken as a notice that someone’s going to be cleaning the fridge soon.
I don’t actually have anything in the fridge, but every time I see one of these signs, I chuckle to myself. Just thought I’d share this mild English-language-misinterpretation humor with others, for once.
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