I'm at work. I'm actually trying to work. I do work that requires some thought, and sometimes it requires a lot of thought or else I screw up big time and things get ugly. Most of the time, it's quiet around here and I can think and do without disruption. Once in awhile, there are loud people in the hall and I have to stop for a moment to give them time to pass. Today, there is a table set up right outside my office, and three women have been out there for more than half an hour, talking and talking and talking. And talking with their outdoor voices.
It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't talking about a kids' show that was here over the weekend. They're talking about the details of this show, and how their kids reacted, and did they like this part of it or that part of it, and did this scare their kid, and how they wanted the crying kid behind them to shut up, and on and on and on and on. Ad nauseum. Outside my door. Did I mention how loud they are?
I would love to tell everyone out there these things:
1. If I didn't go to a show, I really don't want to hear about it, unless I specifically ask. I'm sure I'm not alone in that feeling. So if you're going to discuss it in great detail, do it where you aren't disturbing those of us who don't give a shit.
2. Some people don't have an extra half hour to kill waiting for the disruption of their day to end.
3. If you're going to talk outside the door of someone's office, try to be quiet about it. The term "indoor voice" indicates that it's the voice one is to use when one is indoors. Please try hard to keep the volume to a level appropriate for indoors.
4. If the only thing you have to talk about after the weekend is a kids' show, and you have enough to say that the conversation takes up roughly half the time of the show itself, GET A FUCKING REAL LIFE! It was a show for kids. I'm thrilled that you were also entertained, but it wasn't like you went to see an Agatha Christie play, for Christ's sake. It was aimed at 4 year olds. How deep could the meaning have really been???
Some might just say "Shut your door and quit bitching". To them I say "Fuck you, it gets hot in here with the door closed, and it's my work space." I shouldn't have to be uncomfortable so people can gossip and cackle outside my door. Besides, I did eventually shut my door and I can still hear them!
So, what is wrong with people, as I asked in my title? Do they not have a job to do? Do they not care that they're annoying those of us who do? Might it be that I have raging PMS and should take a pill (and trust me, after listening to the hens outside for almost an hour now, that pill could be cyanide and I'd be perfectly happy to pop it)? All of the above?
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5 comments:
OMG, I am so with you on this one! I work in Cubeville, and people think if they stand at the next cube and talk about their latest home improvements, I cannot hear them. HELLO! Open cubes here! Then there are the people who stand outside my cube and talk on their cell phone because it is the only place they can get a signal. Excuse me? Or the people who congregate at the end of the cube aisle and talk about anything they please, like no one can hear them. Oh, sorry, this was YOUR bitch, not mine. However, this Outdoor Voice phenomenum (sp?) is not restricted to just your place of work. I think it is a growing lack of consideration across the board over the past 10 years or so. Probably the result of the amount of time people spend on the computer and not actually interacting with real people. They seem to forget that anything they say is actually heard by other people outside their little space. I read a good book a while ago where the author said when someone is sitting next to her talking on a cell phone, she starts to read out loud. This makes the other person either move or hang up. Brilliant, I say, brilliant! How about you stand in the door of your office and talk on your cell phone and drown out their non-work conversation? Naw, that would be stooping to their level. If it were me, though, I'd just walk right up to them and ask them to shut up or move on. I actually do this where I work - I ask people to please tone it down so I can hear the person on the other end my phone. It usually works.
some people I know went to see that Miley girl and they paid 20 times the face value of the tickets for thier kids to see her-yet they are in serious financial trouble and both are laid off. but those kids had to see this-the hell with whether they will have a home next week. for the past two months that is all I hear about the Miley show-from adult women! SHUT UP! get an adult life and stop with the kiddie stuff-see a movie with the f word in it-your kids are adorable but you are not!
That outdoor voice thing makes me insane. My husband will answer people who talk on their cell phones too loudly. They yell "Hello?" and he answers back "Hey!" standing right beside them so they can look at him when he starts laughing. I think it's because people can't hear very well anymore. There is always noise, never silence. When is the last time you had the beauty of silence? Radio, television, traffic, iPods, telephones.
I couldn't ask the women to move on because it was an "event" parked outside my door - a blood drive. They finally shut up after about an hour, but in that hour, I had dreams of chickens running around headless. These women were such hens. Cackling and all. Two of the three didn't even work in our building, but one of them did, and she's the one I glared at. I'm sure there will be lots of good things said about me around the water cooler. They already think I hide from them. I just want to say "No. I just can't stand your gossipy, backbiting ways".
Why didn't you just go out there and nicely express yourself to them instead of it ruining your entire day?
There is something to be said for just simply asking someone to be quiet!
Good question, but did you see the part about raging PMS? I also was getting a migraine (by afternoon, my head was pounding) which guarantees that any noise will drive me right over the edge. The stars were aligned for me to go off on a rant rather than do something sane and reasonable. But yeah, asking nicely would have made sense, and I'm sure they would have understood.
It didn't ruin my whole day, though. Just the hour I could hear them yapping and cackling. After they shut up, I was fine.
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