NOISY OFFICE

I used to work in an office where I was part of the group who laughed a lot, yelled at each other over our cubicles and were a wee bit rowdy. We were, however, in a corner section of the floor and separated from other departments - we didn't disrupt them. I loved that job. The work itself was ok but I found that because I was so happy and found time to have fun throughout the day, I got a lot of work done, was happy to work late when needed and I was a lot nicer to clients and other co-workers.

Then I got a job in another place where I was a bit isolated from others and I found my personality shrivel. I was quiet, found it hard to break into conversations with co-workers and I was generally unhappy and hated being there.

Now I am in a job where I am too busy to talk to anyone around me much, unless it's business. I piss and moan that I am not a people person. People annoy me and how I got into the service industry where I have to be nice to clients, I'll never know, but if I am completely honest, I need people. They may piss me off but I do need the human contact. There again if I was irritated like you are with your noisy neighbors I would think nothing of yelling my displeasure out loud - consequences be-damned. What's the worst they could do to me? fire me? pfft! Apparently your neighbors feel comfortable enough to disturb you! Why can't you make a loud exclamation when the pitch gets too much! "Yo guys! Keep it down over there, I can't hear myself think". Or "I'm on a call with a client folks, can you keep it down to a dull roar?" I would be surprised if anyone could have reason to complain about requests like these coming from you. If you complain enough to them, they will get tired of it and request to be moved further away from YOU!

Re: trial period...
thanx for all the responses

hopefully my situation will improve...
always appreciated... i think i hit rock-bottom this afternoon, so there's only one direction to go...
hmm. i'll have to look into that... usually i don't crank the volume bcos i wanna hear who's walking around behind me

Heeven, i crave isolation like a thirsty man in the desert... would give anything to have an office with a door... i haven't yelled yet, but i've done a few rather loud jeezus crise's!
the other day i exclaimed "no more chocolate!" that shut 'em up momentarily...

during the really bad times i'm thankful i have A2k to turn to

Wait until pushed to the Point of No Return.

Scream, "CHOCOLATE!

Storm into the chocolate cubicle, snatch the chocolate box and tell them they can have it back--if they are Very Good--when the work day is over.

After all, sweets are only for the sweet.

Or bellow at the top of your lungs - tenor, bass, baritone, doesn't matter:

All I want is a room somewhere
Far away from the noise over there
Soundproof walls, and a door that locks
Oooh, woudn't it be L O V E R L Y?

Raggedy Annie--


Then when he gets to the "lots of chocolates for me to eat" part, he swoops down and confiscates the chocolates.

I don't know about effectiveness in Gaining Peace and Quiet On the Job, but we're definitely getting dramatic potential here.

Forgot about those chocolates. One thing for certain - after the first swoop, he can be sure there will be no more co-workers' "goodies" in sight.

Is there a boss roaming around in all this hazzerai?

I feel your pain.

I can't stand many of the people I work with, and I used to sit in a cubicle directly behind the most annoying perky idiot all day long. Every friday she says "Happy Friday!" to everybody, and she used to get on the phone with her boyfriend and do that ultra-aggravating baby talk with him. It made me sick. Thank god eventually they moved me about eight feet further away from her, just far enough that I don't have to hear her for the most part.

But now I'm closer to someone who is just as annoying, if not worse. If a question is asked, she has the answer. Not just an answer, mind you, but the one that God himself scribbled on a tablet of stone. And it's almost always something totally subjective. If someone is going out to grab a sandwich for lunch and asks, "Is it cold outside?" and I say, "yeah, it's freezing", she will inevitably butt in with something like, "It's not actually freezing. It's just very cold." And then she will explain to everyone the exact precautions that must be taken when going outside to buy a sandwich in these weather conditions.

Her other lovely personality traits are that she always has an opinion on everything, and if any conversation is going on, whether she is included in it or not, she has to make sure to butt right in and give it to you. And she's so pretentious! And the way she cackles when she's on the phone drives me insane! Some days, I'd like to just sneak up behind her and shove a pen into her temple to make her shut up.

Headphones help a lot. Plus, thank god, my closest friend at work sits right next to me, and he hates her guts possibly even more than me. We commiserate a lot. But it still blows. Good luck with your situation.

Raggedyaggie--

Sorry about messing up your name last time.

Now, as for RP, problem. If the chocolates vanish, so may the carbohydrate mirth?

They will certainly move out of earshot to bad mouth him.

By Jove, I think we've got it.

Raggedyaggy

If the rain is in Spain and RP is on the "right" side of the Guadalquivir River....

Likely the Guadalquiver River runs willy-nily between the cubicles...

And all the cubicle ladies stay mainly on the plain.

Raggedyaggie--

Give us a place to stand and we can move the world!

more replies -- cool!



i've been helping myself to a piece or 3 after they leave.
they really oughtta stow it overnight


aw, shucks


not so sure about that -- they might miscontrue it as a sign that i'm ready to join in with the merriment...


there are 2: my boss, and Sir Laffalott, who's the head of the Noisy Dept (we share the floor -- his group has been growing; mine stays about the same... the group i'm in may hafta move eventually -- that day would serve as the first day of the rest of my life!)

---> more on Sir Laffalott below...


it never ceases to amaze me how people at work are unaware of how they come across, or maybe they just don't care...


---> today's update
Sir Laffalott called me into his office this morning -- he apparently wanted to hear my side of it, not just what my boss had told him... strange little meeting we had -- it almost felt like an interview.

so i told him how i wanted to get away from the noisy people in his group;
that it made more sense for me to move, then to force 4 other people to move in order to accomodate me.
he agreed.

he said that part of his group's philosophy is to have as much fun as possible.
he said he doesn't care where people sit as long as the work gets done.

finally he said he wanted to make me happy -- he is the project mngr for the big job i'd continue on for the next 5 years -- because if i'm happy, he's happy.

later i told my boss about this conversation.
he didn't seem very pleased, so, although things seem to be progressing, it also might stagnate into a power struggle -- with yours truly stuck squarely in the middle...

groan.

2-3 feet of snow...
here's hopin' they close the office on monday!!

so this is the 10th day since i originally complained.
i'm still here, as is everyone else.
brittany has been better -- still loud, but at least she only carries on at her desk, or on the other side of the building.
but the kids are still loud, still flapping the better part of the day.

i think on monday i'm gonna have to play my power card and have them moved down one row...

One row? Do you think that will work?

If not or if maybe, I'd suggest keeping your power card for now and let it accrue some interest, then play it when it will really make a difference.

(Hoping for a happy ending soon!)

thanx -- me too...

our building is a very thin rectangle -- there are only 4 rows of cubes on this side.
they currently sit in the 'middle' (double row of cubes) -- there's only one more row before you hit the offices.

i'll see how things go on monday (friday's have always been loud here, particularly friday afternoons)...
i actually have 2 power cards:
#1 move the kids
#2. move me

i could play #1 on monday, then wait a month and play #2
#1 actually makes sense regarding grouping the 2 dept's better...

Hey Region, how are you doing, did you get (them) to move?