LPT: Put the Out of Order sign on the door HANDLE, not the door.

Submitted by HyruleTrigger t3_11e5yvs in LifeProTips

If you ever have to put up an "Out of Order" sign, a "Closed" sign, or a "DO NOT ENTER" sign, anything where people must read it, put it on the first thing they have to interact with. For example: if the bathroom is flooded, the toilet won't flush, etc put the sign on the door handle. People absolutely will not read door signs basically ever... but the second they try to put their hand on the handle they will see the sign and realize something is wrong. I promise you it is a thousand times more effective to be in someone's way than to be in someone's line of sight.

Other examples might include putting the sign on the keyboard instead of the monitor, the latch instead of the window, or the control panel instead of the side or top of the copier.

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johncandyspolkaband t1_jacwgw9 wrote

This is infuriating but true. I had put a sign up that literally said "DO NOT OPEN! ON LADDER ON OTHER SIDE! DO NOT OPEN" And of course a dumbass opens it and almost knocked me off. Then has the audacity to say "this place is full of signs".

This was an industrial plant with 1500 degree kilns and shit.

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FreshFondant t1_jad3srw wrote

THANK YOU for this suggestion. I had a horribly embarrassing and unfortunate situation that happened to me a few years ago at a Dollar General. I would NEVER enter a restroom that is out of order. I was in the most desperate "need-to-go" emergency I've ever been in. This is a one toilet room. I almost didn't make it because I had to go sooooo bad. It was also an emergency poo situation that came on suddenly and I had mere seconds to find a restroom. I get inside, lock the door, sit down and do my business. It was the largest "chocolate soft serve ice cream" poo I had ever done. At the very end I see a small corner shelf right in front of me. I notice there is a toilet handle with the whole flushing handle mechanism sitting there. Suddenly I had a horrifying thought. This surely cannot be the handle for the toilet I am on! I slowly stand up, look behind, and sure as shit it IS the handle. That's not all. Not even close to being all. It is at this point I realized that in my desperate need to not shit my pants I didn't see that the BACK TANK LID WAS OFF AND THERE WAS NO WATER IN THERE, NOR IN THE BOWL. I had just done the equivalent of going into Lowe's and shitting in a display toilet. PANIC...PANIC...PANIC...WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO???? It's at that moment I see a neon pink paper on the floor. I pick it up. On the other side there is a handwritten sign that says Out Of Order. The damn sign had been taped on the outside door, came off, and slipped under the door. WTF am I supposed to do now? I can't flush it! Total panic. Like red face, flapping my hands, racing thoughts panic. So what did I do? I peeked out the door, made sure nobody was around, and sprinted out the door. WHY WAS THE DOOR NOT LOCKED? WHY WAS THERE NOT A SIGN ON BOTH THE DOOR AND THE TOILET? I just hope they knew enough to fill a bucket with water and put it in the bowl as that would flush it. I hope to god nobody dug it out by hand!!! I did not go back in that store for more than 2 years. Over the years I have told this story and laughed so hard I could barely get it out. Being able to type it out was so much easier. Learn from me, friends, learn from me.

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MVPbeast t1_jadqi3p wrote

They’ve probably got a picture up on the wall of you. But instead of “BANNED” or “NO ENTRY” it just says “Why…?”

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FreshFondant t1_jadzshk wrote

Yah I bet! It also probably said "Do you know this woman?"

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doran127 t1_jacxc36 wrote

Worked at Walmart for a few years, this is 100% true. But this does not just apply to bathrooms. It even applies to if the store is even closed, or if a door doesn't work. People will still try to get in through a locked or broken door.

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Bigted1800 t1_jad6epf wrote

I work in a company that makes safety signage, and in my experience people don’t put a sign up with the expectation that anyone is going to pay attention to it, the main reason for putting a sign up is so that it gives you the right to say “That’s your fault, we put up a sign!”

I have an idea for an impossible invention where you put sensors and a hydraulic ram hidden behind a sign, so when it knows it’s being ignored the ram triggers and the sign is rammed into their face like a cartoon boxing glove on a spring.

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keepthetips t1_jaci0hd wrote

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ChrisGeritol t1_jae0qtm wrote

So, put the sign on my zipper, not my peepee?

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