Weird Co-workers
Tuesday, October 14th, 2003 - 6:14pm
Do any of you work with people who talk to themselves loudly all day long? If so, do you have any strategies for dealing with them short of physical violence? Simple requests to stop talking do not produce lasting effects.
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
MP3''s + Headphones for me.
PSN ID: Stric9
I actually find that easier to tune out then the people who like to talk to other people all day long. Though some red flags go up when I here ""Bomb"", ""Kill all humans"", ""Human liver tastes good"" etc etc.... Yelling at them can get you in trouble better to go yell at their boss who can then yell at them
ah channels.
-Griffon
Did Samurai Jack ever get back to the past?
Headphones, blasting nature sounds. Words in music are just as distracting to me as words from people nearby. I''m seriously considering getting some ""noise-cancelling"" headphones as well -- anyone have any experience with them? If they worked, they''d be a blessing like none other.
I generated a virtual world in the toilet bowl this morning.
-- Podunk on the PS3's mystical, magical abilities
Most of my coworkers try to avoid that one at all costs, very annoying to hang around and will talk your leg off. I''m afraid the only advice I can give you is don''t make eye contact and try to look busy. Also try to be as non-commital as possible when in a conversation with them, hopefully they will run out of steam and get bored.
Crazy: So don''t you think it''s strange that people say thi......
You: Yeah, I guess so
Crazy: ... and when they do it''s not really ....
You: Yeah ... *ruffling papers*
Crazy: ... then my son/daughter/pet knocked over the table!
You: Umm *frantically searching desk drawers like I''ve lost my firstborn*
Hopefully at that point the crazy will just wander off somewhere.
"If I was Obama I'd have made a joke about that. Then again, if I was Obama I'd have f*cked up my own campaign long ago by making c*ck jokes." - 1Dgaf
"Poor Achmed, only three days away from retirement ... from Jihad." - Mike Nelson
Definitely the solution to people talking too much is to give them the ""Yah"", ""Uhuh"" treatment. After a while it will be a running joke and then they will start to clue in that you dont want to be talking to them.
This one guy at my old work, the code words with him were, ""Yah"" ""Uhuh"" ""Yo mamma!""
To which he would respond, ""Fine! Be that way!"" and then shut up or go to the water cooler or bathroom for the 10th time that day.
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
Do what I do in those situations, start a conversation and then do the speed talk. Switch topics every 30sec... pretty much its like if someone starts talking about one thing you switch to something else. I''ll give 2-5 min... then silence.
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ
I talk to my self sometimes. Mainly when I''m thinking outloud. Like ""Come on why isn''t this working?!""!
So leave my people alone!
For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I learned that, I gave Jesus a chance. ~Ron Shelton, Bull Durham, 1988
How many people you got in there, Ulairi?
"Men like sex, thus boobies! Oogaba!" - dejanzie
"If ads put your sanity to the test
come on down to Rat Boy's nest!
light up a stogie, and soon you'll see
how rock can be commercial-free!
'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce
Yes, but do you have both sides of the conversation with yourself?
Crazy1: I think that the way plaintiff has set up this case opens the door to Rule 11 sanctions!
Crazy2 (same guy): But the court will never grant them unless we can really demonstrate prejudice!
Crazy1: Then I guess we''ll have to let it go for a while and let him dig his own grave.
Crazy2: Don''t forget to put a tickler in Outlook to revisit this issue a couple of months from now.
A lot of the time I don''t know if he''s on the phone or not.
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
4
For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I learned that, I gave Jesus a chance. ~Ron Shelton, Bull Durham, 1988
I had a real mental case by me once. There''s several different ways to handle it, but I think the best is to just keep talking about it with other people.
Keep everyone you know updated with ""things he did today"". Smile like ""wow, isn''t that nutty?"".
Once you get it spread to enough people, he will be labeled as a nut case. Once he is firmly labeled that way, go to the boss and say a little something. How your getting distracted from your work.
Boss may inquire other people, who readily agree that the guy is nuts. Poor Alien has to contend with that crap!
Moved, gone, spoken to, something should happen.
You may need to apply this twice, just stick with telling everyone about him as much as possible, and he will be removed.
Once he''s gone you may find yourself missing him just a little. When around the water cooler there''s less entertaining things to talk about.
Strongbad had some helpful suggestions as I recall:
http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail37.html
"If you're not a stinky-stink, you're not addicted to anything!" - Reaper
*sips coffee*
""Ummm, yeaaahhh, did you get the memo on TPS cover sheet reports?""
*sips coffee*
""ummmm, Yeaaaahh, i''m going to need you to come in on Saturday.""
"Can I have a job? I donut have much experiences, butt I always use an spellchecker spellchecker on my articles." - Sway
Using Prayer To Microevolve Latent Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria since 2005!
Spoiler Fanatic!
*sips coffee*
""ummmm, Yeaaaahh....""
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ
""Well I see you''ve been missing a lot of work lately..""
""Wouldn''t say I''ve been missing it, bob.""
""H-Has anyone s-seen my stapler?""
LiquidMantis wrote:
""Ummmm yeah... we''re gonna have to move your desk back a bit. Hey is that a swingline stapler? Didnt you get the memo?""
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
Hehe, I totally knew the minute I saw the word co-workers in the title that it would be reduced to a bunch of Office Space quotes.
Anyway, it''s my experience that if you let them do sh*t, they will, tell them to shut up or that you''re busy and need to be left alone, and boom, you''re in.
Just establish yourself as reclusive and they''ll leave you alone.
Too bad it doesn''t work with annoying dormmates.
Demos out.
"Just remember that sometimes you need to allow problems to just roll like water off of a duckilama's back." ~Reaper
I''ve found that walking into someone''s cube and simply staring at them (if looks could kill, their unborn children would be withering away in their loins, so to speak), works great wonders. Had a woman I worked with who talked really loud on the phone with her kids, used the speaker phone (which was supposed to be disabled), and had impromptu meetings in her cube (supposed to goto little impromptu meeting rooms).
She at least knew the whole speaker phone, and having meetings with lots of people in a 4'' space thing. Under great stress I just couldn''t take it anymore. I walked up to her cube, and could not think of a single thing to say that wouldn''t get me into trouble. So I just stared venomously at them as if contemplating how to duct tape them to the walls. She stopped many of her behaviors afterwards...
Seriously though, don''t do that. Always at least try direct communication so that you can say you tried. I did try that first. But yeah, first with the person, ""I''m having a difficult time concentrating on my work."" and then with the person''s boss, ""I''m having a difficult time concentrating on my work."" Then with your own boss (if not the same as crazy person''s), and then start with your own psychotic behavior (which apparently works in many cases).
Certainly going to their cube and asking, ""Did you dake my dapler?"" (take my stapler) every few minutes might be fun.
Ohh, yeah, I can''t think of a better way to improve your workplace environment... <.<.
Bad, bad idea, unless you don''t like your job... Or you have some truly non-replaceable skill, and I''m not talking about quoting Monty Python''s Flying Circus verbatim.
The man wears a bucket of KFC on his head. I wouldn't expect anything less. - Pred
""Excuse me? Excuse me, senor? May I speak to you please? I asked for a mai tai, and they brought me a pina colada, and I said no salt, NO salt on the margarita, but it had salt on it, big grains of salt, floating in the glass...
edit: Thank you imdb! Fixed the quote!
Being fangoriously devoured by a gelatinous monster.
Hehe, I''m just saying, I don''t talk to the annoying guys here in the dorms, and I don''t have to worry about them anymore. I talk with the people I like in class, and they''re talkative and friendly with me *shrugs*
"Just remember that sometimes you need to allow problems to just roll like water off of a duckilama's back." ~Reaper