'I reminded her that everything on the floor is trash': Manager scolds office janitor for leaving loose papers on desks, loses it when he cleans up after filing cabinet tips over

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Oct 18, 2025 12:00 PM EDT
a businesswoman sits at a table with her head in her hands, beside an open laptop

No matter how high you climb in your career, it always pays to listen to custodial employees.

Cleaners, janitors, groundskeepers, and security are the eyes and ears of every professional building, and they pick up on more details than many of the other people who work there realize. It is the great benefit and frustration of being someone in such a background role that it tends to put you in the know in some unexpected ways.

As a result, these types of employees are to be paid attention to when certain problems need solving, or something goes wrong. They could be a key part of the solution, and quite understandably, they may not be so happy to help if they are not treated with respect. They may do a different job than the average office employee, but they are just as much of a vital part of the operation, if not more important in some ways.

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  • a person wearing rubber gloves empties a waste paper basket into a cleaning trolley
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • One custodian taught this valuable lesson to a manager after she chastised him for leaving ‘trash’ on the desks of other employees. When he cleaned in the morning, he had developed a habit of placing loose papers there after he found them on the floor or behind desks, just in case they were important.

    He complied with her demands, throwing out any and all paper that he found on the floor from that point. This soon became an issue when a filing cabinet tipped over, and the manager realized that some important documents were missing. She wound up looking for them in the dumpster and being unsuccessful, leading to her creating an inbox shelf for the custodian to leave stray papers. He shared the story.

  • All items on floor are trash? Have fun rooting through the dumpster!

    I'm a custodian for an office building. I clean bathrooms, take out trash, vacuum, etc. I clean in the morning before the office opens.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • When collecting trash, I'd occasionally find some loose papers under/behind desks, beside the trashcan, or otherwise on the floor. Since I'm not sure if these papers are trash that missed the can or important documents that fell on the floor by accident, I pick them up and put them on the corner of the nearest desk for the workers to either file them away or toss them. Better safe than sorry.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • However, the manager did not like this habit. She came in early one morning, expressing disgust that "trash is being placed on people's desks." (obviously I never put actual trash like food wrappers or crumpled papers on desks). I explained my reasoning for my habit and expressed that I didn't want to risk tossing something important.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • My manager told me that everything on the floor is trash and the workers aren't such immature slobs to drop important documents on the floor. I agreed and said I'd never do it again.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • a man cleans the revolving glass doors of an office building, with a wet floor sign outside the door
    via Mike Cox

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Flash forward several weeks. My manager came in early again and expressed concerns because a filing cabinet had tipped over the day and despite picking up the papers, they were still missing a few important documents. She asked if I'd seen them.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • I reminded her that since "everything on the floor is trash", the documents were probably thrown away. She was irate, saying "but this was an exception since a filing cabinet fell over." I asked her how I was supposed to know that when I'm not there during the day and was otherwise not informed to look out for these documents.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • That's when the situation dawned in this woman's eyes that she was her fault. She stumbled through some excuses before demanding I go to the dumpster and find the papers. I told her that the office was opening in fifteen minutes and I still had work to do. She stormed off and said she'd start looking in the dumpster.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • While I cleaned, I knew I'd face her again before leaving (my car is parked by the dumpster), so I thought of what to say to her as the final nail in the coffin. Sure enough, when I finished my work and walked out, the manager and a few other wokers who'd arrived were rooting through the dumpster. When the manager spotted me, she demanded I come help.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • I delivered my prepared line: "ma'am, my job description is to take out trash. Your job description is to ensure the safety and confidentiality of your clients' files." I walked away to (in my head) a cartoon-esk villain scream of outraged failure from my manager.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • A few hours later and I got a text saying there will now be a special inbox shelf for me to place any papers found the floor for the workers to go through.
    via Ambitious_Exam_3858
  • a business woman sits at a table with her head in her hands, beside an open laptop
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Cajun Maverick I learned early on to treat janitorial staff with more respect than the owners/CEO. Yes, more respect.
    via CajunMaverick
  • taker223 A janitor reminding about his job description to a manager looking in a dumpster. Terrific
    via taker223
  • Roguefem-76 Yep, a janitor once saved my butt on the job when I accidentally locked myself out of the lab without some materials | needed for my day's work. The main guy was on vacation and even the big boss didn't have a key. But the janitor did, and he let me in to get my stuff. Always be nice to the janitors. Always.
    via Roguefem-76
  • CoderJoe1 She probably feels like a right genius for coming up with the special inbox.
    via CoderJoe1
  • mimtma Carl the janitor spoke truth: "You guys think that I'm some untouchable peasant? Serf? Peon? Maybe so. But following a broom around after shitheads like you I've learned a couple of things. I look through your letters. I look through your lockers. i listen to your conversations, you don't know that but I do. I AM the eyes and ears of this institution my friends."
    via mimtma
  • theUncle Awesome07 "ma'am, my job description is to take out trash. Your job description is to ensure the safety and confidentiality of your clients' files." HAHAHAHA ... Brilliant!!
    via theUncleAwesome07
  • spacecadet2023 I love how these managers just expect to know everything without proper communication.
    via spacecadet2023

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janitor boss manager malicious compliance work papers Office workplace reddit thread Reddit
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