Bookstore left typewriter without a delete key. 12 years later, they were surprised by what people wrote

In a world where kindness seems to perish and evil prevails, even a small positive gesture has the power to bring big changes. Being nice and patient with someone having a rough day is enough to lighten their mood. To encourage free expression, the Literati Bookstore put out a typewriter with a blank sheet — without a delete key. 12 years later, when they went through what visitors wrote, they were left stunned. The video posted on their Instagram — by the username @literatibookstore — will surprise you.  

Opened in 2013, Literati Bookstore is among the famous ones of its kind in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Apart from having a wide collection of books from all over the world, spanning multiple topics, the bookstore also has an interesting feature that attracts many customers. 12 years ago, the bookstore put out a typewriter with a blank page for all its visitors to write and use as they please. There was a single catch — “no Internet, no social media, no delete key.” Anyone visiting the store is allowed to sit at the desk and anonymously write whatever their heart brings up in the moment.

Cut to 2025, the bookstore owners thought it would be a wonderful idea to give their patrons’ thoughts a read. Considering the current wave of digital hate culture, they expected a truckload of “nonsense, mean-biting comments and vitriolic attacks.” But they were surprised to find an abundance of the 4-letter word instead of love. “More often than any other topic, people write about love,” narrated the voiceover. “Love gained, love lost, love missed, love yearned for, love for parents, love for kids, love for someone else, love for lost love, love wanted, love needed.”

The owners learnt that day: “When we are left alone with our thoughts and just a blank page, when we take away social media, and followers, and comments, and the cruel cacophonous megaphone that is the Internet, when we have a quiet moment in a bookstore, to simply leave something anonymous and permanent, about anything that we want more times than not, we write about love.”

Despite the rise of hate all around us, we are humans made of love, with love, and pouring love all around us. The absence of social media has the ability to re-color the world with tints of empathy and compassion. “And while there is so much wrong in this world, in the end, after poring through tens of thousands of anonymous notes, I truly believe, we are more alike than we think,” the narrator concluded.

After watching the wholesome video, people could not help but comment positively. @swaggertownlittle suggested, “Your bookstore should publish a book that is a collection of these typewriter musings,” while @noemisternenkind exclaimed, “I do not worry about people who visit bookshops — I fear people who don't!” @pinktink100 expressed, “Videos like this remind me of the beauty of the Internet, I wish it were always this wholesome,” and @namelessbookstore shared, “This is so moving. Thank you for sharing. There is a cafe in Los Angeles that has mismatched antique furniture, and one of the tables is actually a desk with a drawer. People used to leave notes in the drawer. I hope they still do. Many of them were about love.”

Instances like this one make us believe in the kindness of people when they are unscathed by social media and the pressure of impressing others.