Sign of the times

The office recently got a major upgrade to the coffee machine in the kitchen area. The old coffee machine was this big metal monster, with several pots. Coffee grounds had to be loaded into it like artillery shells. I bet there was the regular problems of pots left on hot burners, pots emptied but not refilled, and the usual other tragedies of the office coffee pot which result from people acting with total inconsideration for others.

Seeing as I never drink coffee at work, I never had much interest in any of these issues. Now we have this new fangled machine that "brews" individual cups of coffee, as well as hot chocolate. Seeing at the cost of dispense a cup of the hot beverage of your choice is free, I occasionally partake in a cup of synth-cocoa.

While I wait for this wonder of automation and self-containment to squeeze out a steaming cup of brown sugary goodness, I get to ponder the sign that someone at the company attached to the front of the machine.

I reproduce here, exactly as rendered on the machine itself:

ATTENTION!!!!

This coffee machine dispenses
It's own cups, so please
Do not place any mugs or
Large cups inside plastic
Dispenser.

THANK YOU

For an admitted writing snob like myself, I'll confess I got the usual chuckle out of the odd capitalization, multiple exclamation points, and the wrong "it's". But the true riddle of this sign is trying to understand the deep significance behind the underlining of "coffee machine". Was there a concern people would not know what this piece of machinery was? Perhaps it's some ISO 9000 requirement. Maybe someone tried to make copies with the thing, and thus, the sign.

The final irony is the machine has, printed right on it, instructions for using your own mug in lieu of the paper ones dispensed automatically.
posted 12:53 PM | link |