eating at desk
eating at desk
(OP)
I work near a person who eats at his desk. It really would not bother me if it was quiet foods, but it is always things like chips, carrots, and stuff like that.
Sometimes I wear factory earplugs so that I can concentrate on my work better.
Would I be appropriate to approach our manager and ask if this can be stopped, or am I just overly sensitive to those sounds?
Sometimes I wear factory earplugs so that I can concentrate on my work better.
Would I be appropriate to approach our manager and ask if this can be stopped, or am I just overly sensitive to those sounds?





RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
I finally walked over to the guy and kindly asked him to stop, he did.
Rudeness and ignorance has taken over politeness good manners.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: eating at desk
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: eating at desk
I hate the cube farm. I want to crunch carrots without feeling self-conscious.
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: eating at desk
If someone eating a "noisy" carrot is disturbing you compare it to people on speaker phone in the next cubicle for 40 minutes at a time (not being very complimentary in that time either).
Dont fret the petty stuff!
Ctopher - have you thought that the only person who is sensitive is the person who is annoyed by the slightly distracting noise. It is not so much being sensitive, it is changing how you react to something.
Tickle
RE: eating at desk
An example would be: PC speakers announcing every stupid little computer noise; stupid loud cell-phone ring while it's sitting on the desk when coworker is away; eating out loud with mouth open.
I was raised with proper manners when around others, regardless where I'm at.
Coworkers acting as if they are the only person in the building, eating like pigs, acting stupid, or just plain rude, do not belong in a professional environment.
The guy next to me chew gum all day and constantly 'snapped' the bubbles "8 hours a day".
IMO, want to act immature ... stay home.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
===================================
Forging http://mech.e.tripod.com
-------------------------------------------------
Ddraig Breuddwydia....www.tailofthedragon.com
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
I work in a cube farm with half of the people being loud speakers, a fourth sneak up behind you, another fourth cannot just say their piece and go back to work, you have to listen to their personal triumphs and woes (I am at a dead end no escape). Going back to the loud talkers, half have speaker phones, and get on telecons with the other half of the loud talkers, everyone can hear the telecon with customers and suppliers it has a stereo effect. What is fun is when a loud talker with a speaker phone answers the phone and his wife chews him out for putting her on the speaker phone.
Yea we have corn nutters, chipper, slurpers, spillers, belchers, farters ... the list goes on.
Get over it – deal with it. At least the cafeteria in your building doesn't back-up the grease trap a couple of times a year – that's a pleasant smell to work in.
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
I tend to use headphones to drown out the background noise, but I seem to be lucky that I dont have any noisy eaters, loud speakers, farters, belchers etc within ear shot.
RE: eating at desk
I agree with the approach of just dealing directly with the person and see if you can, in a friendly way, ask if they can tone it down a little. Personal interfacing is a lost art, considering the current social interface in the office is e-mailing from one cubby to the next.
RE: eating at desk
I have asked them to either talk once and get finished with their conversation or take it outside.
They giggle and say "It's fun".
WTF!!
If I were the manager, I would outsource their positions with the local elementary schools.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
Wow, thanks for letting me rant.
RE: eating at desk
We have one of those too. He makes me sick!
I have asked to either send him to the Dr. or ??
He will not go. I have listened to him every day for the past 3 years do this!
I 'never' touch door knobs with bare hands.
Working virtual is one of the best things I have ever done.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
Reading these posts has been an education to me. I am unaccustomed to such pettiness. Perhaps if you had a little more work to do you wouldn't find time to think about your neighbors? I guess that we are all different; however for me, none of the stuff you described would bother me if I had a backlog of work to keep me busy. However, I would start to get petty if I had too much time on my hands and did not like one of my coworkers. For some I suppose the real problem could be a difference in ideology. Could it be that the real issues are a difference in politics, environmental consciousness, or religion that are manifested in your sensitivity? For me, if I did not like someone and had to work next to them day after day, every little noise or smell would be offensive to me.
RE: eating at desk
For me, it has nothing to do with politics, religion, etc.
It means 'zero' to me what coworkers believe in regards to politics and religion.
It has everything to do with professionalism, politeness, and manners.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
around here for the most part, the phone calls are unavoidable as they are work related. we're too close in this "cube farm" to do anything about it.
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
;)
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
I find the combination of loud but ineffective air conditioning, noise cancelling headphones, and a large music collection, render even the noisiest of neighbours bearable, including when they have a tube meeting (not as exciting as it sounds) at the next desk.
Cheers
Greg Locock
SIG:Please see FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: eating at desk
Now, Ctopher, I'm sure that you must have experienced at least one Groundhog event to make it all worthwhile?
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: eating at desk
I'm not one that 'brakes' to look at an incident.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
I hope you haven't taken that expression from dippy radio traffic reporters commenting on the jams that result when there has been an accident.... try driving through an accident scene at your usual rate of knots and see what happens, or perhaps you do and explain that the reason you are going slower is because of the car in front.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: eating at desk
I live in So Cal.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
Previous companies had a separate lunchroom, and the difference in moral and social interaction was amazing.
So now we get most of the fun that has been listed in this thread, and most of us end up eating at our desks. Most of the noises and so on don't really bother me, with the exception of one engineer who insists on talking on the phone in his loudest voice when he thinks he's doing something important, which is generally antagonising our clients. Funny how he talks really quietly when management ring him up to tell him to extract his cranium from his rectum.
RE: eating at desk
However, everyone has their pet peeves. Some people it's hearing people eat. We have a smoker, who I'm sure is already dying b/c of it, in our office. He'd have these coughing fits that were totally gross.
I'm in an "office" now, and to be honest, I miss the cubicle like atmosphere. I like to be able to talk to people to get through a day and now I can't. Our new office has separate offices for everyone and it seems so inpersonal. I always feel like I'm interrupting something when I go to talk to someone. It's definitely taken some of the personality out of the office and I miss the old setup.
RE: eating at desk
Cuttie
RE: eating at desk
From the mgr point of view, a person sitting at his desk during lunchtime is available on the phone for an urgent call.
RE: eating at desk
I feel lucky that I get along with my office partner. We both eat crunchy things at our desks and have enough manners to bring in enough to share with each other. We will both put on our headphones to 'tune out' phone conversations and such.
I never really thought of crunching to be all that distracting. Farting, belching and clipping toenails is distracting. As is my boss' penchant for never ever picking up the receiver on his phone. I can hear his conversations from two offices away.
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: eating at desk
are you referring to that farting draughtsperson? Is he still working there with you?
An
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: eating at desk
jmw,
Yes, the farting CAD guy is still here, and works no where near my desk. He comes into the office to ask my office partner something and will announce his arrival by farting or belching. Lovely
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: eating at desk
The thing to keep in mind is that we should all be more accommodating to others and not jump to conclusions. It is possible that this errant drafter may be suffering a medical problem. In addition, he may also be exhibiting what seems to be inappropriate conduct when the gas happens. Haven't we all have been guilty of an uncontrolled laugh that was derived from some type of embarrassment?
I say that it is time we all become a little more accommodating to others; because you never know, they just might be suffering from a medical or psychological disorder.
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
Shouldn't that be "Equal" or "more equitable"?
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
Now, I once worked second shift and the first shift engineer that I shared a computer with would invariably leave thick, black lumps on the sides of the mouse. I would have to wipe it down with alcohol every afternoon before I could start working. I finally had enough, went to my manager, who issued a memo regarding "office cleanliness". Didn't work, so I was soon assigned to another work station. "Booger Boy" didn't last much longer at that job.
Choose your battles well.
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. - Hunter S. Thompson
RE: eating at desk
2. Overall thought, pretty petty, get over it and don't bring it up with your manager unless you want to get a rep as the whining, moaning....
3. This kind of reminds me of a house mate from uni. There were 4 of us, 3 of us agreed that the 4th person was almost unbearable. It was mostly petty stuff, just so much of it. Could probably be summarized as a lack of social ettiquete (and this was a house of engineers so we didn't have high standards). However, whenever we tried to explain to someone else how annoying he was, they just didnt' get it and even we came to realize how petty it all was when you tried to list it. Still wanted to smack the guy several times a day though.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies recently, or taken a look at posting policies: http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: eating at desk
Being on "farting terms" with another is about as close as one can be. It has to be earned though.
- Steve
RE: eating at desk
i.e., Try working out of your truck for a week with the constant traffic of scrapers, dozers and end-dumps for 10 hours a day 6 days a week; or have a welder (plus generator) and a demo saw constantly running 5 feet from your site-trailer window...
Then go back to your office and the sound crunching corn nuts will be no more than butterflys dancing on feather pillows ~~~~
RE: eating at desk
I admire the heroes of cube Ville. It must require hordes of stamina and fortitude to endure such.
The entertainment value from (most of) this thread has been side-splitting, for me.
RE: eating at desk
If you really want to annoy your cube neighbor....
http://www.createfarts.com/
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: eating at desk
If you don't like the sound of the first one, just go back a page and you get another version automatically.
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. - Hunter S. Thompson
RE: eating at desk
Some days I get really annoyed with the paging system but it's usually just when I'm in a bad mood (and at least that has a volume control). As a ex-filed guy, I would be fired and/or arrested if I had to sit beside any of the above-mentioned individuals.
RE: eating at desk
We used to have a ("staff location") system with 4 lights and a buzzer in a ceiling-mounted box. Every public place had one visible (and audible). When the buzzer went, all the "important people" would look to the box to see if their combination of lights was active (on/off/flashing). If it was, they would phone the switchboard to get their "important" message. Of course the number of combinations was only 3^4 (minus one - all lights off), so only 80 people were officially designated as "important".
- Steve
RE: eating at desk
Salesman of the year I guess.
Somewhere along the line some one gets the bright idea that a receptionist and a separate telephonist isn't a good idea and the jobs get combined.
The next bright idea is to replace them with Robbie the Robot phone systems so that whether you phone in or visit you end up for a day on the phone listening to dumb messages.
That brings up the most hated phrase of all:
"All our technicians are dealing with clients at the moment and you are number X in the queue. Your call is important to us. Please hold on until someone is available to answer your call." Cue the dreadful music interrupted for a repeat message or an advert.
OK, who is paying for this call? Me? Damn.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: eating at desk
Has anyone ever found coffee stains on there papers or desk, when you aren't a coffee drinker?
I had a boss that did that more than once. At least he could have left his coffee in his office.
RE: eating at desk
It helps with the noise and bored people are less inclined to visit.
I do remember how it was back in the days with squadbay seating, desks and no cube partitions. There was one whistling cigar smoker.
Things have improved.
I wonder if cube partitions built with acoustic damping sheets/fabric would necessarily be cost prohibitive. Even passive noise control of some sort would be better that what's done now in most places. There's always 60Hz (or some harmonic) hum of some sort in industrial building office spaces too.
RE: eating at desk
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. - Hunter S. Thompson
RE: eating at desk
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
Those were the days...
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: eating at desk
He gave me a lift home one day and if you want to worry, worry about being driven along in heavy traffic at 70mph while someone steers with his knees and occasionaly his elbows so he can get out his tobacco pouch and load and fire up his pipe..... and you know how fussy and ritualistic pipe smoking is, this was a long drawn out operation and my nerves never recovered.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: eating at desk
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. - Hunter S. Thompson
RE: eating at desk
No and yes. Now move on.
RE: eating at desk
The noise gets unbearable at times.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies recently, or taken a look at posting policies: http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: eating at desk
it took everything in my soul not to laugh. i bit my tongue for a good 10 minutes while he was asking me questions.
i had a co worker one time who had the messiest arguments with his girlfriend (now wife).
RE: eating at desk
It also common to have a phone in the office that no one answers, as it is one number different from.... In my case a pharmacy (People calling asking for drugs).
No wonder we turned the ringer off. Although a new coworker was horified that we turned the ringer off. We told him if you turn it on, you have to answer it. Got an bunch of laugh's from that.
RE: eating at desk
No loud or excessive talking
No eating at desks (including snacks and sodas)
No music allowed (head phones and Ipods included)
No conference calls (or speakerphone calls)
No talking on the cellphone (or texting) for non work related issues
No comics or political items on the cubile walls
Just silence and diligent work all day.
RE: eating at desk
I worked at a small company once where 'the' rule was:
-No longer than 2 minutes in the restroom
It was in the engineering area, watched/timed by the manager. It may have been because of annoying sounds, or ??
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
He was a nice guy, but a real stickler about any kind of noise. Office rules included no loud talking, etc. You even had to walk softly because the old floors squeaked and groaned.
You could tell when The Boss was out on the road, because the Chief Draftsman, who'd been with him forever, would be whistling, loudly, incessantly, and quite musically. He was really good at it. It's been almost fifty years now, and I still miss the whistling.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: eating at desk
The places where where on the 1st of July the manager would come out and say "Gentlemen, you may remove your ties".
Frankly Ztrain, some of those rules aren't such a bad idea.
KENAT,
Have you reminded yourself of FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies recently, or taken a look at posting policies: http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?
RE: eating at desk
And yea, I agree they are best for the work enviorment. But when your friend can show up to work in torn jeans, dancing to his Ipod while muncing on a donut at his desk... it does make me jealous.
RE: eating at desk
A structured work environment and the ability of some current managers to manage effectively.
Fortunately I have a supervisor who is his own man, runs his own shop (as much as the current hierarchy will permit) and requires results on a timeline.
If you stay busy, show initiative, and produce, he bothers you not. If you dally, a discussion will come in to play.
He does not wait till your yearly review to give you guidance on the program.
My prob is with some of the other managers who do not (cannot) deal with confronting/managing their employees.
It is my belief most folks need accountability and structure in their workplace....what has happened to this?
Individuals who are untethered tend to be counterproductive to the mutual goal of the organization.
Managing effectively is a skill that apparently some folks cannot grasp.
RE: eating at desk
Thus in any environment without that captaincy there is no team work and precious little effective work as too many people "do their own thing".
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: eating at desk
1) Having cube that open faced the mail room. Big time source of interruption in the days before heavy email usage. Everyone picking up mail stopped to say hi since I was a known jokester
2) Another job with an area with a open cube that people would congregrate around while I worked. Brought in ipod to remedy that. Boss was ok with it. At least I could tune it out.
3) Current job where one girl just migrated into. She has the "Do you live in a barn" type outdoor voice. Hopefully this will be remedied when the office is renovated. Sound falls off with the square of the distance and I'm hoping she's in the far corner at that point.
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08; CATIA V5
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
We had lots of noc-noc jokes based on snot.
Smacking lips while eating, talking with mouth full of food, and other noises, are considered rude and not polite.
Manners are gone these days. They are just not taught anymore and a lot of people don't care anymore.
When I politely asked a guy next to me to stop popping his gum every second, he said he didn't notice he was doing it. I asked him if he was aware which office or building he was in. He doesn't talk to me anymore...I'm fine with it.
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 3.1
AutoCAD 08; CATIA V5
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
But maybe I did not hear them because of the telecons with loud talkers and speaker phones going on.
The loud talker/belcher was away from his desk, so I didn't have to worry about bothering him.
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
LUDPEKA1, There was a time when I thought no way does anyone have 30 GB of music, until I got assigned a mind-numbing graphic task where the only thing that kept me awake was the music I listened to, and downloaded. I now have almost 20 GB of music on my iTunes.
But the earbug style headphones make my ears hurt after awhile. I sometimes wish I could unplug the earphones and just crank the music like I did when I was in the field, but then I guess we would have a thread about the 'awful' types of music people listen to....
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: eating at desk
Chris
SolidWorks 08, CATIA V5
ctopher's home (updated Aug 5, 2008)
ctopher's blog
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
Wearing blazers and top hats while playing tiddly winks down Oxford Street during rag week. No thanks.
- Steve
RE: eating at desk
being a mole in your dorm room while its sunny and 60 degrees outside. No thanks.
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
Most of the time I would tell myself, I would never live around such nuisance. And there are times I dont even have time to notice the nuisance.
What is the dividing line here?
RE: eating at desk
Someone wrote in saying that several times recently they've had to change their seating location in a restaurant because they just could not abide seeing others' terrible eating habits.
Was it people talking with their mouths full, chewing with their mouths open, washing their hands in their water glasses? No, it was their switching utensils from hand to hand (I guess American vs. European, though I thought it was American style that switched, and this writer was American) that this person found so loathsome they couldn't bear to watch.
I was disappointed that the advice columnist did not suggest that Gentle Reader seek therapy.
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: eating at desk
We Brits have a very strict cutlery etiquette. I recall my old primary school headmaster patrolling the school hall at dinner time, telling kids off even if they held their forks the wrong way: "It's not a shovel".
Americans seem to use their hands if at all possible. If a fork must be used, it's held in the dominant hand. If a knife must be used, the fork is transferred to the other hand, used to hold food still while the dominant hand is used to cut the food. When cutting is complete, the the dominant hand resumes custody of the fork.
- Steve
RE: eating at desk
Yes, they work better than our feet. UK types, being less evolved, presumably still retain prehensile toes...
RE: eating at desk
Still, to compare, all this makes me yearn for the glorious 12 hour days and 7 day weeks in a shiftwork (er, sh*twork) trailer in mud and gravel outside a field office trying to build things with a 12 foot extension cord, 2 foot wide (temporarily-cleared) space on a folding table on a mud-filled worn-through-holed linoleum floor in 98 degree August weather in 95 percent south Louisiana humidity ....
With the porta-poop potties overflowing outside and in the sun all day ....
RE: eating at desk
And a table?
And an extension cord?
Okay, I have an office job, in South Louisiana.
I'm even on the second floor now.
My prior office was also air conditioned, and only got damp when the canal came up through the adjacent factory floor, whenever it rained.
The possums in the ceiling were not a bother.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: eating at desk
RE: eating at desk
Why are most computer geeks such assholes?
RE: eating at desk
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: eating at desk
Chris
SolidWorks 09 SP4.1
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion
RE: eating at desk
I just started at a new job several weeks ago. They have my desk located in a corner in the shop/warehouse. They have tall shelving separating the area but that doesn't stop any of the noise of drills, hammers, forklifts, random banging... Surprisingly I've been able to tune out and get used to most of the noise, but the electrical box and panel is located 2 metres directly above my head and it relentlessly buzzes.
A co-worker was asking me if I minded the noises and proceeded to tell me that the previous person to sit here was convinced that sitting below the electrical box for years is what gave him cancer...
I'm starting to think that sitting near the loud talkers wasn't that bad.
RE: eating at desk
Peter Stockhausen
Senior Design Analyst (Checker)
Infotech Aerospace Services
www.infotechpr.net
RE: eating at desk
For a few years he managed to convince his boss that he inherited a train wreck and he was fixing it at a cost.
Part of the big staff turnover was due to his blaming all the old fogies with over 25 years of service for his failings.
Also the major product being legislated out of business was an excuse. It still did not explain why he could not manage a deal when he had by far the best market intelligence and the best infrastructure in the country to offer potential new generation partners. Distribution of refrigerant gasses is a very infrastructure intensive industry and that alone should have had suppliers lined up at his door.
Also his boss probably didn't want to admit his mistake. His boss also was pushed sideways and left with a useless post until retirement.
Regards
Pat
See FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies for tips on use of eng-tips by professional engineers &
http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm
for site rules