In a world where it's sadly viewed as increasingly odd to approach strangers, one woman was left 'mortified' as she received a handwritten note at a London cafe.
Paulina, a 32-year-old teacher, was enjoying a coffee in Hammersmith, west London, when she was left to deal with what she called a 'nightmare scenario'.
Considering most of us have our faces constantly buried in screens, handwritten cards and notes can be quite sweet when done correctly, as one woman found out when she received a particularly cheeky note from a pilot at an airport.
But they can also be ominous at times, as another woman discovered a long-held family secret while cleaning out her father's house after he died.
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Although they can be romantic or historical, they can also be used as a way of telling someone off without causing a scene, and that's essentially what happened to Paulina recently.
She was approached by a stranger who left her a note suggesting that she was being so loud that she felt forced to leave.
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The note read: “Hi, I don’t know if you are aware; your voice, volume of, has been overwhelming to us.
“We have been unable to have a conversation as we cannot hear each other. However, we have heard every word of your conversation – we now know the names of your cats.
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"This is a space for more than yourself and unfortunately we have had to leave. Something to think about."
While complaining about hearing about someone else's cats is quite funny, Paulina was left embarrassed by the whole incident, after the woman left the note without saying anything before leaving the cafe.
Paulina said: “I was, of course, mortified, as everyone would be, I think. It’s like a nightmare situation.”
While she does admit that the thought of someone writing 'i know the name of your cats' is 'really funny, she couldn't believe that they'd chosen to approach it in that way.
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She added: “There were people in the corner. Some people said: ‘were they not giving you death stares?’ No, I believe they weren’t talking when I came in. I was meeting a co-worker, we were just chatting.
"I think that was the only part of the conversation I was loud for. I’m actually a teacher, so my theory is I was still in teacher mode with my voice not being quite an indoor voice, I do reflect on myself as well.
“It’s OK to let someone know if they’re being disruptive – for example, parents letting children play really loud sounds on their tablets, and I know for them it’s probably white noise.
"Maybe they were afraid to approach me, but I don’t think I’m a threatening person. The content of our conversation was about cats and then we were just chatting about work, it wasn’t like a gossip session or anything like that.”
While the owner of the cafe didn't exactly agree that she was being overly loud, it was clearly too much for this particular stranger, who might not have the best people skills, but certainly has beautiful handwriting.
James Moorhouse