It wasn’t very good. The glue stuck, but came loose again. In frustration, Spencer slapped the test paper to his forehead and slumped. After five minutes, the paper fluttered to his desk.
Hal laughed, but not unkindly. “Not exactly the super-adhesive we’re after, is it, Spencer? Back to the drawing board, eh?”
Spencer smacked the paper against the wall. And it stuck again. Hmm: a low-tack, pressure-activated, reusable glue.
He had a solution. Now he just needed to find the problem.
,
I’ve taken a leaf out of Rochelle’s book this week. For more on Spencer Silver, the inventor of the Post-It Note, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-it_Note, Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
Dear Neil,
Or make the punishment fit the crime. Sticky notes can only do so much.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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That is very true
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I wonder how many things we use today were invented without a purpose! Thanks for adding to the Frikepedia!
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My pleasure
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My husband was working for 3M in St. Paul when the Post-It note became a “thing.” I remember his telling me this story 🙂
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Sorry you’ve heard it already, then
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No “sorry” necessary, Neil. It’s been a LONG time since he told me the story. Always good to hear a good story again.
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As with Rochelle’s best, this sent me off down a rabbit hole to find out more. Thanks for the little nugget of curiosity!
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Glad you liked it
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You’ve taken Rochelle’s history lesson baton this week, Neil, and you’ve done her proud. I love post-it notes – although credit to the originals; cheap copy versions are noticeably inferior.
Thanks for giving me a rabbit hole to fall into today
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My pleasure. I couldn’t resist it
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Smart application!
In fact, that’s how the post-it notes got to be used!
Smart inventors & marketers! 🙂
The Missing Girl – Anita Sabat
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It took them quite a while to figure out what they were for
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I like, ‘In frustration, Spencer slapped the test paper to his forehead and slumped. After five minutes, the paper fluttered to his desk.’ That image really enlivens the story.
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Thank you, Penny. It’s like those stupid party games isn’t it?
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Well at least he didn’t harm anyone or thing in the process.
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Just created a world festooned with bits of sticky paper
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These are the kinds of individuals that statues need to be erected for. Spencer made my life a whole lot easier over my work years. Good one, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Jade
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You’re very welcome.
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great, so that’s how post-notes came to being. 🙂
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So it seems. Who knew?
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I enjoyed the fun. I concluded that human evolution is a solution to a problem not yet revealed.
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Thanks, James. Humans may be an answer without a question
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That method of inventing things explains a lot of the gadgets that can be found in a house.
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Solutions looking for problems, indeed!
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Most of the young startup enthusiasts go through this syndrome 🙂
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Thanks. Reena
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I wonder if there’s a list somewhere where people can post problems that need a solution and solutions that need a problem. Like a lost and found list. Wouldn’t that be handy? Maybe that’s a solution in itself. Great story, Neil. Fascinating.
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Sounds like a project. All you’d need is a website. Thanks so much, Margaret
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Interesting. I love post-it notes, all over my house. I hated them in the workplace though, particularly in seminars and meetings. Thanks for the titbit of info.
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I’ll leave historical titbits to Rochelle, but I couldn’t resist this one
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How often engineers search for a problem to fit their solution. Creativity at its best. Well conceived, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Bill
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I worked hard to use up all the Stick It pads! Now I am wondering what I have done with my last note book, 🙂
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Perhaps there’s a novel in them
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Interesting piece. Now I can imagine story behind the process.
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Thanks so much, Vartika
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It took ten years to get it up and running. (I followed the Wikipedia link.) That’s sticking with it.
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And civilisation as we know it was born
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Love post it notes! Fabulous story
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Thanks so much, Laurie
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I remember wondering why they ever thought sticky notes would sell — until they did! I’m always angry about the ads I get for things that fix something that doesn’t need fixing, to add yet another gadget to my mother’s drawer-full. (An egg separater? Really?) But I gotta admit that at least once a day I reach into my own drawer for that pad of (not really) sticky notes. Great story.
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Thanks so much. I thought bottled water would never catch on
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