Now 8 years later this still can happen.
I decided to join Word Banter because I found this helpful despite discovering that the article referenced is not a valid URL anymore.
A quick google search for [ss barnhill word white space] provided:
http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/WhiteSpace.htm as the new url.
In Word 2010 which is what I use primarily, it's found under File Options Display. Then it's the very first checkbox under "Page display options".
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Where is the button that can be inadvertently clicked? (not that I need it, just curious if anyone knows more as to whether it's a document-specific setting or one that just lives among the other Word Display/User Interface settings like being able to switch from Outline view to Draft.) Could be dreaming this, but I though I might have read somewhere that there is a way to force a certain View each time upon opening the saved document. That's what I mean as to something that would have to be a document-specific setting.
Note: This is my first post, so I figured it requires at least a little banter at the end.