# Office Space movie question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141 "2019-02-25T00:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/1 "2019-02-25T00:00:59Z")
watching Office Space again on DVD. I still have the stapler that came with it. PC load letter, what the fuck does that mean? …Next Friday is Hawaiian shirt day…It’s just that we’re putting the new cover sheets on the TPS reports before they go out…I don’t like my job and I don’t think I’m gonna go anymore. You’re gonna quit? No, I’m just gonna stop going…yeahhhh So many more things I could quote Thank God I no longer work for a company line Initech. But anyway, at the end, how does the fire take care of everything? They would still know the money was missing. Is it just that they could not prove who stole it? Cool interview with most of the people involved - > **[O-Faces, Red Staplers and TPS Reports: The Oral History of 'Office Space'](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/office-space-20th-anniversary-oral-history-791306/)** > > Writer-director Mike Judge and the cast give the definitive story of making the 1999 work-sucks cult classic on its 20th anniversary ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/2 "2019-02-25T00:23:15Z")
If the books were all online and they didn’t have off-site backups, there is no proof even that money was missing any more. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/3 "2019-02-25T00:35:56Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > If the books were all online and they didn’t have off-site backups, there is no proof even that money was missing any more. Right, but would any company not have back ups? Maybe some were stupid enough not to. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/4 "2019-02-25T00:42:07Z")
I think the main plot point is the fire destroyed the confession letter. And if any company is stupid enough not to back up their systems, it’d be Initech. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/5 "2019-02-25T00:44:35Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > watching Office Space again on DVD. I still have the stapler that came with it. > > PC load letter, what the fuck does that mean? …Next Friday is Hawaiian shirt day…It’s just that we’re putting the new cover sheets on the TPS reports before they go out…I don’t like my job and I don’t think I’m gonna go anymore. You’re gonna quit? No, I’m just gonna stop going…yeahhhh > > So many more things I could quote > > Thank God I no longer work for a company line Initech. > > But anyway, at the end, how does the fire take care of everything? They would still know the money was missing. Is it just that they could not prove who stole it? > > Cool interview with most of the people involved - > > ['Office Space' Oral History: O-Faces, Red Staplers & TPS Reports](https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/office-space-20th-anniversary-oral-history-791306/) The money is missing from thousands of different accounts; if the company was running normally, they’d eventually catch on after enough people complained, or accountants noticed the discrepancy, but in this case, the building has been burnt down, and the staff dispersed - so it’s possible that no one will notice. Even if they do notice, there is little reason to suspect the main characters - investigation will find no unusual money trail, and any physical evidence is burnt up. P.S. “PC Load Letter” means “P(aper)C(artridge) Load Letter(-sized Paper)” ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/6 "2019-02-25T00:49:35Z")
The above answers are good, but one can not also overlook (he he) the Stephen King model of “When in doubt, big fire at the end”. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/7 "2019-02-25T00:50:10Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > The money is missing from thousands of different accounts; if the company was running normally, they’d eventually catch on after enough people complained, or accountants noticed the discrepancy, but in this case, the building has been burnt down, and the staff dispersed - so it’s possible that no one will notice. Even if they do notice, there is little reason to suspect the main characters - investigation will find no unusual money trail, and any physical evidence is burnt up. > > P.S. “PC Load Letter” means “P(aper)C(artridge) Load Letter(-sized Paper)” Good explanation re the money. But I still don’t know what PC load letter means. The wrong size paper is in the copier? ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/8 "2019-02-25T00:52:42Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > The above answers are good, but one can not also overlook (he he) the Stephen King model of “When in doubt, big fire at the end”. Like in The Stand. Love King but he himself has said he has problems with the endings of his books. He should write like John Irving, who writes the ending before anything else. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/9 "2019-02-25T00:53:57Z")
PC Load Letter means “put letter-sized paper in my paper cartridge because it is empty.” ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/10 "2019-02-25T00:57:25Z")
* * * > [@friedo](#): > > PC Load Letter means “put letter-sized paper in my paper cartridge because it is empty.” OK. Why coud that not be the error message? Well space limitations. Why not, “wrong paper.” Well, because engineers are not good at dealing with customers. What is the matter with you people?! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/11 "2019-02-25T01:08:48Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > * * * > > OK. Why coud that not be the error message? Well space limitations. Why not, “wrong paper.” Well, because engineers are not good at dealing with customers. What is the matter with you people?! Your questions are why the error made it into the movie. We all found it frustrating and it was badly phrased. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/12 "2019-02-25T01:13:05Z")
BTW there was an alternate ending to the movie. At the very end when Peter is working outside, the boss comes up. We don’t hear what he says in the released version but in the alternate version he is another Lumberg. I think I agree with the choice, happy ending. Would have been more poingant with the alternate. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/13 "2019-02-25T01:20:09Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > > [@friedo](#): > > > > PC Load Letter means “put letter-sized paper in my paper cartridge because it is empty.” > > * * * > > OK. Why coud that not be the error message? Well space limitations. Why not, “wrong paper.” Well, because engineers are not good at dealing with customers. What is the matter with you people?! In case you’re serious (and I doubt you are), this was displayed on the LCD control panel of certain printers, which could only display a very short message. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/14 "2019-02-25T01:27:57Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In case you’re serious (and I doubt you are), this was displayed on the LCD control panel of certain printers, which could only display a very short message. not really serious. Just rambling on. But PC Load letter is 14 characters, including spaces. Could have been written better. I work for a translation company, sometime we translate text messages, there is a character limit. And the Spanish language uses about 20% more words than English, so if you have a 160 character limit and the English phrase it 155, it is a challenge to translate. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/15 "2019-02-25T01:37:41Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > * * * > > OK. Why coud that not be the error message? Well space limitations. Why not, “wrong paper.” Well, because engineers are not good at dealing with customers. What is the matter with you people?! ‘Load Letter’ tells you what kind of paper to load (although it is not immediately clear, admittedly). Another message was almost certainly ‘PC - Load Legal’ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/16 "2019-02-25T01:44:07Z")
“Forget it, Mike. It’s Chinatown.” Oh, wait. Different movie. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/17 "2019-02-25T01:52:23Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > “Forget it, Mike. It’s Chinatown.” > > Oh, wait. Different movie. in my Top Ten. “my sister, my daughter, my sister.” “You see Mr Gits, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and place they are capable of…anything. “He died 2 weeks ago and 1 week ago he bought the land. That’s unusual”. I think I would have remembered.” etc etc ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/18 "2019-02-25T03:42:00Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > not really serious. Just rambling on. But PC Load letter is 14 characters, including spaces. Could have been written better. I work for a translation company, sometime we translate text messages, there is a character limit. And the Spanish language uses about 20% more words than English, so if you have a 160 character limit and the English phrase it 155, it is a challenge to translate. Look at it this way. Imagine you’re a printer designer. You live and breathe printers, so naturally, “PC” always means “Paper Cartridge” to you and everybody else you work with. Likewise, “Letter” is just a common-sense abbreviation for “Letter-sized paper” - everyone would make that conclusion walking down the street or going to the store. So, obviously, the meaning of “PC Load Letter” is clear as could be. Users? You mean to them, “PC” is a computer, and “Letter” is something they get in the mail? It would be demeaning to design messages that could be understood by those folks… ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/19 "2019-02-25T03:54:34Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Look at it this way. Imagine you’re a printer designer. You live and breathe printers, so naturally, “PC” always means “Paper Cartridge” to you and everybody else you work with. Likewise, “Letter” is just a common-sense abbreviation for “Letter-sized paper” - everyone would make that conclusion walking down the street or going to the store. So, obviously, the meaning of “PC Load Letter” is clear as could be. > > Users? You mean to them, “PC” is a computer, and “Letter” is something they get in the mail? It would be demeaning to design messages that could be understood by those folks… This; oh my freaking Og, this. A former employer of mine designed/built high-speed in-motion weighing systems for industrial and manufacturing environments. The GUIs and operation of their earlier systems could only be understood by people with PhD’s in Metrology and Computer Science. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141/20 "2019-02-25T03:56:31Z")
To be fair, the first time you see this message on the printer, you could have checked the manual (and in those days, these things came with actual paper manuals) and from then on, the message would be understood. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/office-space-movie-question/830141.md?page=2)