Work = HELL

[Guest guest]

I thought I'd share what I've been going through at work. I find it completely ridiculous, and it's so bad that I dread waking up and going to work every day.

A little background first. I am 31, and work in an office (cube farm) about an hour from my house. I'm married and have two kids (almost 10 and almost 1). I don't really like what I do, but I don't know how to get started with another career without bankrupting my family.

Anyway, ever since I started at this job, there's been someone that sits near me who drove me nuts on a daily basis. First it was a woman who coughed up snot all day. Then it was a whistler. Then it was a gum cracker. Then it was an ice muncher. The list goes on and on. My direct supervisor is a nice guy. We get along fine, but don't "hang out" outside of work. I can joke with him and/or have inappropriate conversations without worry of repercussion.

HOWEVER.... any time I try to get him (or anyone else for that matter) to address one of the noisemakers, I am made to feel like it's MY fault that I can't concentrate. The first time I e-mailed him for help, I got this response: I will do what I can. Which basically was nothing. Some time later I e-mailed him again and got THIS back: You know what, there's nothing I can do about it.......I hear it to and I ignore it........Your whining about it is more annoying to me then that is. Nice, huh? So finally that woman got moved, and a gum cracker settled in. I e-mailed my boss again about the new one, and got this: Turn your music up...... I threatened to e-mail the gumcracker directly with an article about etiquette, and he wrote

me back with this:

Get over it .............the more you complain the more I'm going to sit and do nothing. I have already talked with her and let's see if it has an effect for tomorrow........don't get your panties in an uproar. So apparently he HAD talked to her, but it never made a difference. This woman chews gum all day long, and cracks it with EVERY bite. I heard it clearly from about 30 feet away OVER my iPod.

Another woman moved in near me, and started randomly popping her gum. I decided to try something new and talked directly to her about my issue. She advised me that since she knew it bothered me, she would be sure to do it more. WTF???? So I e-mailed my boss and he said: Like there's nothing you do that bothers her???? LOL @ you!!!!

So while trying to ignore these two, a new team gets moved near us and a woman sits right next to me and chews ice all day long. As if things couldn't get any worse, right? I could hear that over my iPod too.... The only reason I didn't say anything to her was because I found out that I was moving in a few weeks. I finally moved to the opposite side of the building where it was nice and quiet. Until this woman came back from vacation and.... you guessed it..... started cracking her gum! She's the type who is quiet for a few minutes, then you hear 10 little bubbles all pop at once. ALL DAY LONG. Finally I couldn't take anymore, so I e-mailed her directly (since I didn't even KNOW her) and copied HER supervisor on the e-mail, not mine. I wrote: I was wondering if you could possibly stop cracking your gum when you

chew it? I have tried to not let the sound interfere with my work, but I can hear it clearly over my headphones and it is very distracting. I appreciate your understanding. Thanks. I received the following response: not a problem. It's a bad habit and I will try to be conscious of it from now on. I couldn't believe that I had addressed the issue and she didn't blow up at me! Of course, I heard the next day that she was all pissed off that I had copied her supervisor on the e-mail, and that she was badmouthing me to everyone she knew. But I don't care, because I didn't hear her chewing gum for a WHOLE DAY! And

then it was business as usual. :-( I let a few weeks go by, listening to this ignorant woman cracking and popping away, and finally. e-mailed her supervisor directly:

Since my initial e-mail apparently had no impact, maybe I'll try a different route.

Is there any way you can say something to her? There's no reason why I should hear that from 30 feet away and over my headphones. Thanks, I appreciate anything you can do. She wrote back that afternoon: I have spoken to her and your initial email did have an impact, she is trying to be courteous and was very apologetic regarding the distraction to you. If the issues continues please let me know right away. So this was about 3 days ago, and the stupid woman hasn't stopped. I can't keep e-mailing her boss because it'll just make me look whiny, so I'm right back at square one. Thank God for my iPod, even though I leave work everyday with a headache because I listen to it on full volume for 8 hours a day.

Sorry this is so long, I just needed to vent a little. It's great that you guys are there to listen.

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