Pet Peeves!

[radwife]

I am at work and the woman in the cube next to me is chomping, popping, and snapping her gum. We basically face each other with only a cubical wall separating us. Lord help me to not jump over the wall and snatch the gum out of her mouth. It's basically silent in here and each time i am in the middle of a thought. POP, SNAP, POP!!!! It's driving me nuts!!!

This is one of my biggest pet peeves! Growing up we were told repeatedly "chew with your mouth shut!" Thanks mom and dad for making me so hyper aware to such things!

Please tell me I'm not the only one with petty pet peeves.

[scrub-jay]

Nope, you aren't alone. I really dislike people chewing loudly behind me. Does it make logical sense? No. I. just. really. don't. like. it. DH thinks it is just another one of my "quirks". Hang in there.

-C

[alison]

Quick! Offer her something yummy to eat!

[samssugarmomma]

Lol

like your fist.

lol

Jobs ago, my cube neighbor had some sort of...sinus...allergy...snorty...thing going on. Somedays I could take a deep breath and try to realize that he probably feels congested and icky or that he has been doing it for so long that he isn't aware of it. At one point, I heard him explain a "sinus issue" to someone who must have asked so I decided not to say anything to him.

I nicknamed him (to myself) "Snotz". Sometimes it was really, really bad. I wondered what co-workers in other states thought was going on. Ditto for the mortgage broker or other personal phone calls. Does he do this at night? How does his wife sleep next to him?

I became less aware of it over time. Until the day I was on a call, he starts up next door, and the person I was talking to asked me if I was ok. "Yeah, fine, why do you ask?" Person on phone says, "It sounds like you have really bad allergies." O...M...G.... It's not me! It's Snotz! I swear! How many other people had I talked to who thought I was a phlegm volcano?

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

This is a friend's story but it's hilarious/sad:

My friend had a coworker (in PR in NYC) who was to put it mildly, very concerned about her weight. My friend often felt badly for her because she was mildly obsessive compulsive about it. One day, she heard the following sound:

Drawer opening, spritz spritz spritz, throat clearing, drawer shutting.

ALL DAY LONG, every 15 minutes.

The girl was spraying "I can't believe it's not butter" spray in her mouth every 15 minutes. Something about how then she wouldn't "crave" fat...

[radwife]

Ah, this is helpful! It's reminding me that it could be a whole lot worse.

Yuck!!! That is really gross (the spraying).

My cube neighbor in Phoenix drove me crazy with her long talons on the keyboard. Clickety clackety clack on instant messenger all day long. But I'm a gum chewer so I probably drove her crazy too!

[oceanchild]

Oy. I shared an office for a while with a woman who talked on the phone (not about work) ALL DAY LONG. I felt like I knew her entire life story without ever having a conversation with her.

[alison]

Jobs ago, my cube neighbor had some sort of...sinus...allergy...snorty...thing going on. Somedays I could take a deep breath and try to realize that he probably feels congested and icky or that he has been doing it for so long that he isn't aware of it. At one point, I heard him explain a "sinus issue" to someone who must have asked so I decided not to say anything to him.

I nicknamed him (to myself) "Snotz". Sometimes it was really, really bad. I wondered what co-workers in other states thought was going on. Ditto for the mortgage broker or other personal phone calls. Does he do this at night? How does his wife sleep next to him?

I became less aware of it over time. Until the day I was on a call, he starts up next door, and the person I was talking to asked me if I was ok. "Yeah, fine, why do you ask?" Person on phone says, "It sounds like you have really bad allergies." O...M...G.... It's not me! It's Snotz! I swear! How many other people had I talked to who thought I was a phlegm volcano?

Dh does this during allergy season. He says it's post-nasal drip, and he won't do anything about it (like take Claritin - which DOES help!). GAHHHHH!!!! So annoying!

[BonBon]

Oh, if you do a search you'll find plenty of pet peeve threads! A lot of mine have to do with driving. And lines. Now that I think about it, people generally piss me off.

Nellie, the phrase "phlegm volcano" gave me a much needed laugh!!

Dh does this during allergy season. He says it's post-nasal drip, and he won't do anything about it (like take Claritin - which DOES help!). GAHHHHH!!!! So annoying!

Alison, this was something I had never heard before or since. It was remarkable. The space planner for our building heard some of it and offered to move me but I was hesitant to give up my window and the flood of light. Another window spot opened up and I moved. And he kept at it, year round.

[DCJenn]

I shared an office with a woman who had 15 cats once. I tried to get my boss to talk to her but she was a weenie and just bought me a scented candle instead.

My pet peeve is people who go to yoga and then right when it's time to do the relaxation part at the end of class they GET UP and leave. I mean come on- it's maybe 10 minutes- maybe. and it's the best part of the whole thing. Meanwhile, any good and calm thoughts I may have had go right out the window while I have to hear people move about.

If you've made it through 45 minutes of a 55 minute class, just hang there are actually relax for those last 10 minutes.

Jenn

[MrsK]

Here's mine. People that clip their nails at the desks/cubicles. Yuck! I mean, seriously???

[Tenacious_D]

I shared an office with 2 other guys a few years ago. I only had one complaint...everytime I was on the phone with DH, one of the guys would chime in as if he were in on the call. I would ask DH want we should have for dinner and this guy would jump in and say "oh, you guys should have chicken since you had pasta last night..."

WTF...when you are trapped in a shared space, you can't openly welcome yourself into a personal conversation. So glad to be done with him!
And I can't stand gum smacking/chewing!