Woman Shares Sound of the 5,000-Page Mistake That Made Her Want To Quit Job

A woman has shared the moment when a noise in her office left her considering quitting her job.

Madison, who posts under the handle @madixoxxo, shared a clip of herself in the office when she went to investigate the loud noise coming from the next room.

When she walked in, she saw the problem—the pages of the document she was printing spilled all over the floor, creating a mess of out-of-order pages.

"The copier was making a scary noise, so I went to check on it," she said in the text overlay. "And the 5,000 pages I needed to print IN ORDER decided I should put in my two weeks [notice]."

The huge printing job combined with the copier room chaos had clearly pushed Madison to the brink. In the comments she joked: "I think I need to go home."

Newsweek has reached out to @madixoxxo via TikTok for comment.

The clip received more than 800,000 views on TikTok, prompting a series of responses from viewers.

"I'm baffled by the fact that there even is a 5,000-page document—what kind of document was it????" Jay asked. This sentiment was echoed by user Ehe, who joked: "5k pages girl. At that point go to a book publisher—that's a whole novel."

Others joined in, shocked by the number of papers. Nico quipped: "Are you printing the entirety of Lord of the Rings???" While viewer Connor shared his own suggested approach: "I would reprint it. Ain't no way I'm going through that." Angela simply said: "Girl don't sweat it, just recycle it and reprint."

Others questioned why so much printing was necessary, asking whether the document could just be emailed or stored on a computer: "Girl email the trees are crying," wrote CKR.

For over a decade now, computers, smartphones and tablets have been offering an alternative to paper products, but it seems that the draw of a sheet held in hand is still strong.

A survey by FAO found that the U.S. consumed around 65 million metric tons of paper and plasterboard in 2022, an increase of over 3 percent compared to the previous year. The U.S. is the second largest consumer of paper and paperboard worldwide, second only to China.

In context, 100,000 pages of paper are equivalent to about one tree, highlighting the significant environmental impact of paper use.

Despite this, the increasing occurrence of data compromises and fear of cyberattacks in computer systems may be why some are keen to go back to basics with paper.

In a follow-up comment, Madison clarified that she would rather avoid the printing too and said: "My boss needs everything printed. Believe me I don't want this either."