My neighbor

[WickerBill]

In the cube next to me, the guy must have a nasty case of OCD. He whistles all day long. Through his teeth. He clicks the clicker on his pen extremely fast, for up to 10 minutes straight. He then turns it over (presumably when the thumb is tired from clicking) and pounds it on his desk. This shakes MY desk too. He also drums his fingers for long spells, which is just as bad.

Now, he's a *great* guy. He's in his 50s. Can I say something to him? It would almost have to be something like "Hey, you know that thing you've been doing compulsively for 30 years? I'd like to you stop it, immediately." I can't do that, can I?

Do I have any recourse without completely offending him?


I look to the great wisdom of OC to help. Hee hee.

[KLang]

I thought after the big promotion you would be out of a cube. ;)

[JT265]

Drink lots of beer, and every time he starts with the pen click drop a couple of nasty sneaker farts his way.

I know I'd stop in heartbeat. :laugh:

[Wheel-Nut]

He probably doesn't realize he is doing it. Talk to him about it. If he tells you to f-off burn a CD of an earl drone fest and play it so he can hear it! :laugh:

[Methanolandbrats]

Go to HR and tell them to move you.

[Andrew Longman]

Do what you have to do, but avoid the urge to strap dynomite to your chest and come to work heavily armed.

[Cam]

Declare war. (http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/8a0f/) :D

http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/usb_rocket_launcher2.jpg

[devilmaster]

whistle with him, loudly and off key. It might not get him to stop but someone else might tell both of you to shaddap.

yer off the hook then. ;)

[RHR_Fan]

Drink lots of beer, and every time he starts with the pen click drop a couple of nasty sneaker farts his way.

I know I'd stop in heartbeat. :laugh:

:rofl:

Is your neighbour the kind of person who might get offended if you brought it up straight to his face?

Or you could take away his red stapler, remove him from payroll and hopefully it will "work itself out." ;)

~Nicole

[Elmo T]

A couple of co-workers complained to HR about another employee constantly coughing and clearing his throat. HR purchased radios for their cubicles. :rofl:

I'd try to politely mention it...

[rocket]

^^

If that doesn't work just come in way early and empty his cubicle out.


I'm envisioning something from Office Space, what I want to know Wickerbill...is which character are you:D

[Gnam]

If that doesn't work just come in way early and empty his cubicle out.

Replace all his pens with pencils. Whenever he whistles, you whistle.

[Insomniac]

I think you can mention that his whistling is distracting and his pen slamming shakes your desk and ask him to be mindful of it. Habits are very hard to change and maybe your bringing attention to it might make him more conscious of it. I'd say your best bet is to move if you can or if you can tolerate the noise, at least get some separation so you desk doesn't shake.

[Rob]

One of my coworkers has a habit of snapping his fingers a lot, which drives me up the wall, especially since he has no rhythm when he does it. I just pick something up and hand it to him. Not sure what I'd do if he whistled a lot. Force feed him a stick of gum, maybe?

[nrc]

http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/05prodsbymodel/PLUG/$FILE/PLUG_1.jpg?OpenElement

[dando]

Get a set of screaming monkeys off of Woot and send one his way when he starts clicking. :D

-Kevin

[RichK]

I've found that humor often works to softly break the news to people like this. Something like "hey, was that an earthquake - oh, that was you. What the hell are you doing over there?"

If they don't get a humorous hint, they won't ever get it.

[WickerBill]

Do what you have to do, but avoid the urge to strap dynomite to your chest and come to work heavily armed.

D'oh! And I just bought all the supplies!


Yes, I think he may be offended; I'm fairly certain he knows he does it but it is a habit; yes I'm still in a cube and will always be in one in this company (my boss's boss's boss is in one); I am scouting for empty cubes out of earshot daily; I wear headphones all the time now to avoid the noise but it doesn't stop the shaking.

I nearly threw a party late last week when he was out for a day.

[Robstar]

Or you could take away his red stapler, remove him from payroll and hopefully it will "work itself out." ;)

I'm envisioning something from Office Space, what I want to know Wickerbill...is which character are you:D

"I'm gonna need you to go ahead &..."

[Indy]

I would rather die than work in another cubicle.

I had a cubicle neighbor at a previous employer who would play his radio all day, just loud enough to hear it, tuned to an easy listening station which played the most atrocious manufactured music. They had a play list of about 15 songs, my favorite of which was that Whitney Houston song where she wails like a cat in heat, "I-I-IIIII-IIIIIIII-will always love yooooooooouuuuu-ooooohoohooohoooohooohoooooooo...". You know the one. This guy had the habit of humming off key to these awful songs almost continuously. The boss would do nothing. HR told me to try to be less sensitive. The guy told me that the handbook allowed him to have a radio and play it at that level, that others had complained before, and that HR had approved it the way it is.

So my advice to you is, quit.

[Opposite Lock]

So my advice to you is, quit.

That's a perfectly cromulent line of reasoning.

However, I would hate to waste an opportunity for superglue. First to the pen's clicking mechanism. Next time, glue the pen to the desk.

Haven't thought of a superglue-related solution to the teeth-whistling yet, but I'm pretty sure there is one.

[TKGAngel]

You could suspend his clicky pen in jello.

[nissan gtp]

I like the superglue idea, endless possibilities.

finding a new cube is probably a better move :D

[Joelski]

He's reached his 5th decade and obviously derives no other joy from life than to annoy you. Kill him.

[Cam]

/me has been unemploed since January. Put a job app into would be a dream (municipal) job roughly 3 months ago...Got a reply just today! :eek: They are calling me in for an interview! w00t!

[Joelski]

That's good, right? :D:thumbup:

[Cam]

That's good, right? :D:thumbup:

Jubetcha! Its doing what I wanna do. Working with mostly clueless teachers... ;) Its a 3 minute commute after having a 45 minute commute the past 10 years.

Honestly it really sounds like a fun job... And what I really want to do. :)

[Cam]

Crap! I just threadjacked WB's thread.... Sorry!

I still recommend declaring war. :D

[swift]

"Hey, you know that thing you've been doing compulsively for 30 years? I'd like to you stop it, immediately." I can't do that, can I?
yes. you've gotta stand up for yourself. directly tell this *great guy* how much his clicking/drumming/whistling makes your job difficult. the sooner the better...


"I-I-IIIII-IIIIIIII-will always love yooooooooouuuuu-ooooohoohooohoooohooohoooooooo...".
[futurama_reference]
"the humans are attacking!!"
[\futurama_reference]

[nrc]

Time to delve deeper. Do these things really bother you in and of themselves or is there some underlying personal issue? You know, like the guy's a total waste of cube space?

[nrc]

Crap! I just threadjacked WB's thread.... Sorry!

I still recommend declaring war. :D

Ha! This is today's Woot! (http://woot.com)

719g8-MZ6LE

[Gnam]

1. Attach windchimes to your desk on the off chance he hates windchimes.

2. Whenever he stops shaking, you start shaking.

3. "Hey Yo! STFU!" [/3:14 chappelle]

67T5riDCAMc

[chop456]

Ha! This is today's Woot! (http://woot.com)




^ Needs more shock and awe/saturation bombing.

EmZ-QKglyrc

[WickerBill]

Time to delve deeper. Do these things really bother you in and of themselves or is there some underlying personal issue? You know, like the guy's a total waste of cube space?

Nope -- he's fantastic at what he does, hard worker, good guy. Have talked with him for years when we didn't sit next to each other and always used him as an expert resource on a few things.

Now, he's just "the whistler".

To those suggesting a call to HR -- I would be called "intolerant". I promise.


I guess I'll have to confront him, somehow. It isn't my forte, especially with people I respect. Ugh.

[RusH]

This thread calls for pwanage :D
http://www.pwned.nl/

[extramundane]

Jubetcha! Its doing what I wanna do. Working with mostly clueless teachers... ;)

Sounds like you're taking my job. If you think you're drinking a lot now, just wait.

(good luck, dude :thumbup: )

[Turn7]

When he starts the clicky crap with the pen, just get up and stare at him until he says, "what?" as he stops clicking. Then just simply say thank you.

After 3 or 4 times doing that it'll sink in. Maybe.

If that doesn't work, slash his tires.

[Foxman]

In the cube next to me, the guy must have a nasty case of OCD. He whistles all day long. Through his teeth. He clicks the clicker on his pen extremely fast, for up to 10 minutes straight. He then turns it over (presumably when the thumb is tired from clicking) and pounds it on his desk. This shakes MY desk too. He also drums his fingers for long spells, which is just as bad.

Now, he's a *great* guy. He's in his 50s. Can I say something to him? It would almost have to be something like "Hey, you know that thing you've been doing compulsively for 30 years? I'd like to you stop it, immediately." I can't do that, can I?

Do I have any recourse without completely offending him?


I look to the great wisdom of OC to help. Hee hee.


Just be as loud and rude as he is. If he shakes your cube, shake his. if he clicks his pen, beat a hammer on the desk. He'll get the idea.

[devilmaster]

[QUOTE=nrc;198172]Ha! This is today's Woot! (http://woot.com)

Already sold out.... damn.

WB, you buy 3? ;) :D

[SteveH]

Each time he leaves his cube, give it a dose of this (http://www.prankplace.com/fun_fartspray.htm).

Within a week, he'll ask to be moved.

[Andrew Longman]

I'll try to give you a serious reply based on my experience helping high performing teams.

Ask him if he's open to some feedback. If he says no, go the dynamite and 9mm route:D , but only the very rare will refuse feedback (acting on it is another matter) It puts the situation on him. Whatever you say, he asked for it.

Tell him that you respect his work and he clearly takes work seriously. You know that he would want you to work as effectively as as you can, but he is doing a few things that are creating a distraction for you. Tell him specifically what it is and the effect on your work.

Make an agreement to remind him if necessary and be open to feedback yourself. Tell him that you otherwise are happy to be working close to him.

Do not involve your boss or HR unless you go them together. Don't let him or yourself become the victim. If he just can't stop, depersonalize it and go together to the right decision maker and say everything is fine but he needs to do these things that annoy you to be productive and you can't be annoyed and productive. Together ask that he move to a place where he can do what he wants and no one will know.

Alternatively, if he can't stop make a decision to "Let it Go", and I mean really let it go, not simmer in a quiet rage. Or, leave the job. Those choices; confront, let it go, or leave are your only answers... Unless you go the posal route but I haven't seen that work out too well.

[JLMannin]

Bring in really, really smelly lunches, like kimshee, and eat them in your cubicle.

Turn him in to the ergonomic police. All that repetitive motion is sure to result in an OSHA reportable injury.

Ask an industrial hygenist to measure the sound level of the pen clicks - if it is higher than 80db, he will have to stop (A long-shot for sure).

You could call the ergo police and claim the desk shaking is causing is causing you a repetive force injury.

Do you have a laptop? Can you get network access in a wireless location? Your best bet is to find an empty cube. I personally would find approaching a co-worker about annoying habits to be a very difficult thing to do.

[EDwardo]

Report him to Homeland Security. Suspicious behavior.

:eek:

[G.]

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/images/dilbert2007061174577.jpg

[WickerBill]

Oh my God. Scott Adams reads my mind.

So anyone know a good anonymous email place that I can send him this comic?

[Joelski]

I would think you would be skilled enough to print it and lay it on his unattended desk. ;)

[WickerBill]

I'll have to be stealthy.

[Sean O'Gorman]

Oh my God. Scott Adams reads my mind.

So anyone know a good anonymous email place that I can send him this comic?

I'll do it.

[emjaya]

Oh dear, I've just realized I am Alice. :eek: :rofl:

[matthole]

I saw that Dilbert strip in the paper today and thought of this thread. Obviously I wasn't the only one. :D

[nissan gtp]

I'll do it.

me too.

better yet, let's ALL do it :rofl:

[Methanolandbrats]

me too.

better yet, let's ALL do it :rofl::thumbup: What's his email? Time to carpet bomb his in-box. Shock and awe x 2 :D

[Andrew Longman]

I saw that Dilbert strip in the paper today and thought of this thread. Obviously I wasn't the only one. :D

Scott Adams hangs at OC? Cool.:)