BS: Office annoyances

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: dianavan
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:45 PM

Becca -

1. Speak directly to the co-worker about the problem

2. If that doesn't solve it. Write them a note re-stating your concern.

3. If there is still no resolution, ask someone to mediate.

Never tell the boss. None of you co-workers will ever trust you again.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: jacqui.c
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 06:27 PM

I had a further thought. Earplugs.

No, not for in YOUR ears but to stick up the nose of the offending sniffer. Better use gloves to do it though.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST,receptionist at Mudcat Central
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 04:39 PM

Was that Jack I just saw run in here and out as fast as a whippet? God knows what he is up to.

Well, not to bad of a day here at Mudcat Central. Looks like I might get out here on time today, maybe I'll stop off and buy some corn on the cob, now that I have had my dentures tightened.

I should leave a note with Joe to have him pick up some more Kleenix, my allegies are acting up so much these days, and I certainly don't want to annoy anyone with my constant sniffling.

Good Night all, see you tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: jacqui.c
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 04:35 PM

HE he he he......

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 04:32 PM

Oops sorry, I must be in the wrong thread?

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: jacqui.c
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 02:15 PM

But what there is of it is delightful Becca! :0)

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Becca72
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 02:11 PM

Not that I want to get involved in this conversation, but I'm finding this comment hard to hold back...my father, being a fine Maine-born gentleman, has no arse. It's an affliction of most of the men in his family and indeed of native Maine men in general.
Much to my delight, I inherited my father's backside (albeit a wider variety) and my mother's nose. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: jacqui.c
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 01:49 PM

Receptionist -

As a connoiseur of asses I can tell you that Max's is not big or fat. Having seen the gentleman's posterior at the Getaway (fully clothed I would add) I must state that, in my opinion it is a fine example of a male ass and almost as good as my own dear husbands!

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Janie
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 12:48 PM

Becca, that is, thankfully one problem we don't often have to deal with. When one of us is sick--EVERYONE else, including the boss, pressures them to go home--'cuz we don't want the germs.

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 12:40 PM

Hey Recepi!

Nice to meet ya.. Vicks vapo rub is good for congestion. Just rub it on your chest and let the soothing vapours do their magic!

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST,receptionist at the Mudcat Central
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 12:05 PM

Oh frig. Here we go. Where did I but those damned Tylenols. One of these days I'm going to tell Max he can shove this job up his big ass.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 11:48 AM

I see that today is not the day Clinton gets his humour back.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 11:39 AM

" Kendall is #2, after Ian Tyson"
Big FKN deal... I wouldn't cross the street to give him the steam off my piss if he was on fire....


" I don't for a second think that he was lying. Just engaging in some banter, hyperbole"
None of the above... with people like you, one cannot afford to be anything other than point-on direct....

" I'm truly sorry to have upset him"
You haven't. I'd have to care about you one way or the other in order for you to be able to affect me in any way.... I don't, so you can't.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST,receptionist at the Mudcat Central
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 11:32 AM

I'm back from the dentist with my dentures now fixed. Well, I feel like a new person. What a surprise, there was a box of kleenix on my desk. Now I don't have to sniffle all day. There is also a big bottle of Tylenol Xtras, because it's another day at the Mudcat and God knows I'll need these.

Thank you very much Joe.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: jacqui.c
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:56 AM

Sorry to hear that Charmion. Hope you get better quickly.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:50 AM

What Clinton has been saying has been so over the top that its difficult to take seriously. I don't for a second think that he was lying. Just engaging in some banter, hyperbole, if you will. After all, he's not trying to sell us a used car or to get us to go to war with Iran. I've met Clinton in person he's a funny man with a dry sense of humour. He's lost his gauge of what is funny, that's all. I'm sure at some point he'll get his bearings again.

I'm truly sorry to have upset him. But I'm sure he'll recover.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:15 AM

I'm the asthmatic in my office, and I'm at home today and miserably ill (poor, poor pitiful me) precisely because someone brought his/her contagious sniffle to work.

I'm with Becca72: some timely griping in a protected forum such as the Cat could well be the difference between surface serenity in the presence of an offensive irritant, or going toadally postal.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: jacqui.c
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 10:04 AM

Becca - eat lots of your dad's baked beans, with maybe a curry on the side. Sit and fart all day. That should stop her sniffing and eating with her mouth open!

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: kendall
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 09:06 AM

Joe, as far as I'm concerned, your suggestion that they cut it out is exactly what a moderator should do.

---

Cut WHAT out?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: kendall
Date: 25 Apr 06 - 08:06 AM

One of my best friends chews with his mouth open, it's like watching a cement mixer in operation. I deal with it by not watching him. With him, it's not culture, it's lack of manners.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: number 6
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 11:30 PM

Her chronic 'sniffles' could be caused by allergens caused by mold found in the office ventilation system, carpets (I bet the one in your office is vacumed once a week if that). Chewing with her mouth open, well different cultures don't withhold the same manners as dictated by Wasps. Hell, I have worked with with highly educated intelligent people from Greek, China, Israel who chomped their food in such a manner. Cultural soul is all it is.

I'm afraid North Americans have become way too prudish.

sIx

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 11:18 PM

Rather than retype it because I wasn't heard the first time over the din of squabbling, I'll refer Becca back to this post, in which I actually tried to address the problem.

BTW--I have a coworker who is nearly deaf but refuses to get hearing aids and presents a whole set of annoyances in itself. The sniffing is a variant on any number of distractions one can find in a workplace. If your coworker is sniffing and eats with her mouth open, maybe she needs her adenoids or turbinates looked at. Whatever your solution, politeness counts.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST,Joe_F
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 09:15 PM

The only time I worked in a office, it was a small one, and we did not scruple to mention small annoyances to each other.

A good friend of mine, tho, once worked in a bank. A coworker noticed that my friend did not use deodorant. He reported it to their boss, who reported it to his boss, who told their boss to tell my friend to use deodorant.

--- Joe Fineman    [e-mail]

||: Heat is what you pay for; temperature is what you get. :||

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST,receptionist at the Mudcat Central
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 09:12 PM

Joe, I'm going home now (another long day at the Mudcat Central). BTW, can you remember to order some Kleenix we have been without it since last week and my allergies have been dreadful lately, my nose just keeps running and running. My allergies and all this ruckus going on here have been causing nuclear migraines. So order some more Tylenol also, and make it xtra strength.

Goodnight Joe. Oh, I forgot to tell you I will be late tomorrow. I have an appointment with my dentist, I have to get my dentures tightened.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: John O'L
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 08:59 PM

What I mean by that is that there are some things you can say to your family but no-one else, some you can say to your co-workers and no-one else, some you can say on Mudcat and nowhere else, and some you can only say to Clinton and no-one else.

There's probably nothing you can do about this other than teach yourself to fart each time she sniffs.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: John O'L
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 08:56 PM

While you're at it, can you ask her to close her mouth when she chews?

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 08:49 PM

Beca, if it's not something you can say directly to your coworker then you probably shouldn't say anything. If you can't say, "Your sniffing is annoying me so would you mind using some tissue"? without feeling as though you are being too forward or rude, then you probably would be out of line. Sorry, you'll probably just have to put up with the other human beings in your office when they sniffle...
Mrs. Earbore of Grosse Pointe

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: NH Dave
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 08:29 PM

Becca,

    If you can get a stereo headset with large cushiony ear pads, you can run a small earpiece [bud like]for the phone underneath the earpad on one side, listen to soft music of your choice from a radio or small music device, and cut the volume down when the phone rings.

    Dave

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 08:13 PM

Here we go again. OK, is Clinton to blame for being beliigerent, or is Jack the Sailor for calling Clinton a liar?
I think the both of you are out of line. Cut it out.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Midchuck
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 08:06 PM

Have a care, Clinton.

Kendall is #2, after Ian Tyson, on my list of people over 70 that I'd still run away from a fight with.

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:53 PM

Or guy..?

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:52 PM

Clinton has a wife?

What a woman!

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: kendall
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:24 PM

You have three choices,
1 Ignore her
2 Speak to her about it
3 Talk to your boss.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST,G
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:22 PM

Little Hawk and Jack the Sailor are in very good form tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From:
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:12 PM

Well, this same woman chews with her mouth open at lunch, so I think she's just oblivious.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: kendall
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:08 PM

Becca72, there is another possibility; cocain snuffers tend to snif a lot.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 07:00 PM

I agree with what you were saying in principle John. I just wanted to be clear we weren't talking about individuals who probably would have to be fine people, saints even, like Clinton's wife.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:51 PM

Indeed. Anybody read Dilbert lately?

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Bill D
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:51 PM

The problem is, I don't think Clinton makes things up. He can do JUST fine with his ummmmm...'personal' take on reality...*grin*

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: John O'L
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:47 PM

I wasn't trying to criticise Clinton's wife, although I can see that it might look that way.
I was deploring the corporatisation mentality which first conceived Human Resources to dehumanise industrial relations, and then HR, to dehumanise even that.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:46 PM

lol

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Little Hawk
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:44 PM

Unlike his online life, which nobody could make up except maybe Steven King.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:31 PM

"Once upon a time they had personnel officers who actually addressed such problems. Now they have HR people who say 'get the fuck over it.' "

In fairness to Clinton's wife who is not here to defend herself and to HR people everywhere, I think its worth pointing out that there is a very good chance that Clinton made that whole thing up.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: John O'L
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:25 PM

Once upon a time they had personnel officers who actually addressed such problems. Now they have HR people who say 'get the fuck over it.'

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From:
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:24 PM

Thank you, Jack.

I in no way intended for this to be an HR dispute, merely looking for creative ways of dealing with an annoying co-worker who doesn't get the hint.

Quite frankly, what Clinton has to say in no way affects my life...on or off Mudcat, since I have found him to be a regular pain in the ass and rarely put any value in his posts.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:21 PM

Back to the original question:

A sniffle may be a sign of a chronic condition, or it may be a sign of something contagious that you don't want to catch. After having spent weeks (almost all of March and much of early April) on antibiotics after catching a bug from someone at work I would be very leery of getting near that coworker unless I knew the nature of the problem.

I stayed at home and worked from there while I was contagious but able to work. I missed spring break (I work at a university) because that's when I was too ill to work. At least I didn't have to take as many sick days. I didn't spread my germs around, and my coworkers appreciated that.

If you can ascertain, without infringing on her civil rights (amazing what you can and can't ask these days), what the reason is for the sniffles maybe something can be done in the office to help her. Maybe she's allergic to something in the environment. We learned that our office receptionist is allergic to roses, so any fancy bouquets left over from luncheons or meetings held in the nearby meeting area go down to the reference or circulation desk for people to admire, we don't leave them in the administration office any more. Some other flowers are okay, but not roses. We wouldn't enjoy the flowers if we knew someone else was suffering to have them around.

Sometimes just knowing what the problem is helps you ignore the annoying symptoms. And get a radio to play at a low-enough volume that it doesn't disturb others but can let you ignore the sniff.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:15 PM

BTW Becca,

I hope you understand that I was not in any way saying that your question was stupid. I was only talking about what Clinton apparently thinks. He's just wrong about that.

Welcome to the Mudcat Becca72. Your dad is a real man and a good man.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:11 PM

Have you an asthma sufferer in the office? A cold could kill them. So they might be able to file a discrimination or health and safety lawsuit - depends on local US law about which I know little in general.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: kendall
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:07 PM

Becca72 is new here. She's also my daughter, so let's cut her some slack Clinton.

Subject: RE: BS: Office annoyances
From: GUEST,receptionists at the Mudcat Central
Date: 24 Apr 06 - 06:06 PM

Joe!! Where did you put the goddamned Tylenols.