How often do you actually pick up litter off the ground? Most of us probably ignore it, assuming that it’s someone else’s problem. But if you’re brave enough to grab a piece of paper that was drifting in the wind, you might be rewarded with an incredibly amusing or entertaining find.

A community that knows this experience all too well is the Found Paper subreddit. This group is dedicated to sharing photos of the most random notes, letters, advertisements, and more that people stumble upon in unexpected locations. Enjoy scrolling through these pics that might inspire you to keep an eye on the ground from now on, and be sure to upvote the ones that you’d love to have context for!

#1 Found During A Late Night Walk In The Park (Poem?)

I live in Poland, but by some coincidence I can read Korean! From what I can read, it seems to say: "I'm not a poet, but sometimes I put my thoughts on paper, and sometimes they flow into a rhythm. I'm not an artist, but sometimes I paint my emotions, and sometimes they look quite good. All I want is understanding and love. And all I can do is write about it and paint it as I understand it." I actually really like this poem... I wish I knew who wrote it

#2 Found This A Few Years Ago

#3 Pribble

In this day and age, the idea of giving someone a handwritten note often seems like a lost art. We slide into each other’s DMs, send text messages alerting loved ones of major life updates, and glean information about our friends and family members from their Instagram stories.

Once upon a time, however, writing someone a letter or a note was the only way you could communicate with them if you couldn’t speak face-to-face. And one situation where you could potentially encounter a lost or abandoned note was by finding a message in a bottle.

#4 Found Outside Library

#5 Tiny Piece Of Paper Found On The Sidewalk

#6 Ordered A Retired Bbw Fragrance And This Business Sized Card Was Tucked Into The Package

According to New York Magazine, the first known message in a bottle was sent by Greek philosopher Theophrastus around 310 B.C. The note, sent by one of Aristotle’s pupils, was sent to test the hypothesis that the Atlantic Ocean flows into the Mediterranean Sea.

These notes that have been found washed up on seashores haven’t always been without controversy, though. Apparently, in the 1500s, Queen Elizabeth appointed a royal “Uncorker of Ocean Bottles,” and made it a capital crime to open a bottle from the ocean without authorization.

#7 Found In A Book I Bought At An Estate Sale

#8 Found While Renovating An Old Train Car

I’m renovating an old caboose and found these inside a bench. Thousands of papers which appear to be all the shipping ledgers from 1899 to 1950s

#9 A Note Written 118 Years Ago In An Autograph Album Asking Who Would Be Reading It In 100 Years. Here We Are

I was going through an old autograph book given to me by my dad from 1908 and stumbled across this entry written by Maggie L. Lange to her friend Hellmuth in Spangle, Washington. Maggie wrote a short poem wondering where the book would end up 100 years in the future and who would be turning its pages while thinking of them. It felt a bit surreal to read her question well over a century later.

By 1846, the United States Coast & Geodetic Survey began releasing boatloads of messages in bottles into the ocean to conduct research on ocean currents. And in 1913, a message in a bottle was discovered with a note that read: “From Titanic. Goodbye all. Burke of Glanmire, Cork.” It washed up on the shores of Dunkettle, Ireland, a year after the ship tragically sank.

#10 1 Week To Go

Found it just like this

#11 Lulu The 3 Legged Cat

Perplexing but strangely sweet

#12 Expo Found In A Thrift Book

Picked up a silly science fiction book- got a bonus

People are still fascinated by the mysterious letters and notes that they come across in the wild, though. And in 2024, Central Pennsylvania made headlines after cryptic notes started appearing in the area. The messages were found inside sealed food products and a variety of other items. Apparently, the notes referenced current events around the globe, controversial subjects, and conspiracy theories.

#13 Note On A Title Page

#14 Found This Gem At The Park

#15 Found This On My Way To Work This Morning

The text in the dog says "true good boys respect consent".

Psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Berger said that the notes appeared to be what experts would call schizophrenic writing. “The writing appears to be called loose association … a term of art in psychology where in the person’s mind writing it — it makes sense, but unfortunately for us, it just appears to be random words and statements.”

“The fact that it is so disorganized in and in itself, just the grammar, the syntax are so disorganized says this is a product of a mind that’s very disorganized,” Dr. Berger added.

#16 Found On My Morning Walk Near The Woods By My Very Secluded House

Very bizarre find this morning! Apparently a card from the 1974 board game for The Waltons. Knew it was some kind of sign & sent it to my mom, who used to love The Waltons. And it’s in good condition, so surely hasn’t been there long. Off the side of some random road in the middle of nowhere no one ever walks????

#17 Name Tag Found On The Sidewalk By A Courthouse

#18 Bigfoot Sticker Fell Out Of A Second Hand Book

Sometimes, however, random notes that are found can be extremely wholesome. In 2020, the Washington Post published a piece about the “random kind notes left in cafes and bookstores.” Apparently, there’s even a group of people who go out of their way to leave these kind notes for strangers to find.

“With loneliness so prevalent, it’s hard to just walk up to someone and say, ‘Hi, would you like to be my friend?’” Bahaa Chmait told the Washington Post. “A handwritten letter is a lost art form that anyone can appreciate. It lets people know that somebody out there cares.”

#19 Strangely Aggressive Paper Found In Park

#20 Found In A House My Husband And I Are Renovating

We bought a little lake cottage a month ago and it's a total gut job. We know the husband passed away a year or 2 ago and that the wife was recently placed in dementia care by her daughters. We found this note behind floor moulding in the bathroom. The juxtaposition of "Thanks for playing!" against "These are for sadness" is jarring.

#21 Found While Walking My Dog Today

And if you want to start leaving kind notes for strangers to stumble upon, there are really no limits to where you can leave them. “I've left letters on train seats, inside books in the library, and on top of a watermelon at the grocery store,” Chmait shared. “I even left one at Home Depot once, leaning up against a drill. Typically, we'll write something simple on the envelope, like 'open me.'” You never know whose day you could make by leaving a simple message behind!

#22 Found Sitting On Ground Behind My Furnace

#23 Found At A Gas Station. This Should Be Criminal. Only $74/600 Goes To The Principal Of The Loan

They will be paying on this loan forever with that interest. Ridiculous.

#24 Found In Japanese Cook Book

Is this list inspiring you to keep your eyes peeled for lost notes and pieces of paper that you encounter while moving through the world, Pandas? Keep upvoting the messages and notes that you would be thrilled to find, and let us know in the comments below if you have stumbled upon any particularly fascinating pages before. Then, if you’d like to check out another article from Bored Panda featuring amusing notes people have encountered, look no further than right here!

#25 Found A Fortune On The Floor By My Desk At A New Job

#26 Shopping For “Naners”

#27 Found A Clipping Of A Newspaper From 1953-54 In A Book From 1952 At A Rummage Sale

#28 Found This, Something Poetic About It

#29 Found In A Frame For Sale At A Thrift Store

#30 Found This 1960s College Notebook Of A Medical Student

University of Baghdad. Looked like a good student. I hope they had a great future and career since then.

#31 Who?

Found on the floor of a school bus after the kids all got off.

#32 Found On The Office Floor

#33 Outside A Gas Station In Central Florida

“Keep this for reference Some great places in Scotland to visit”

#34 Found In A Copy Of A Secondhand Bhagavad Gita I Got Today

#35 There Are Layers To This-…

#36 Found In The Basement Of A Church

My kids have Scout meetings in the basement of a church that also hosts AA meetings. This was sitting on a counter near some coffee grounds and sugar. Enjoy the delightfully retro and original counter top in the background.