Officemate rant...

PrincessJas

A new guy just moved into my 3-person office, and within 30 minutes, I want to wage war.  He's that type that makes all sorts of body noises - clearing his throat, swallowing, sucking his teeth, sniffling, breathing loudly through nasal passages too small to sustain his large mass.  Then, he brought in lunch - I have no problem with this (I do it myself), but he smacks, slurps, chews loudly and wheezes while he eats.  I am the type of person who requires silence to focus, and my previous officemates (both of who have moved out over the past year) were quiet people, like myself.  Add to that I had the office to myself over the summer, and I'm about to crawl under my desk sobbing because I can't get the noise out of my head when I really need to be focusing (it doesn't help that I've been up since 4 am).  

Ladies, have any of you dealt with this?  Do any of you have strategies to tune out the noise?  I can't work with earphones in because music too distracting...my only hope is that his advisor will have him maxed out on classes, and that he'll never be here. Or I have to come in at 5 am to get things done before he arrives...

jennylee813

Ugh - I HATE loud eaters! It's disgusting!! Would a fan help? White noise from one might be some relief.

GoodLuckBear14

I have one who eats lifesaver breath mints.  It sounds like she is chewing rocks.  I usually put in earbuds.  Even if I don't have anything like Pandora playing on my computer, it still blocks out the noise.

PrincessJas

Both are really good suggestions!  Thanks!  I'm glad I'm not alone in my frustration - it makes it easier to bear

Sjmiller418

When studying at school I put on a pandora like classical station so i have the noise but its not music I really care for. If its a song I can sing along to thats when I find I cant focus but if theres nothing to sing along with like classical then I can focus. Just something to try out.

Avion22

Maybe try a noise-reduction headset.  You can just have it do the noise-blocking without playing any music through them.  If he asks "What are you listening to?"  you can just tell him "Nothing, I'm just trying to block out the noise." Maybe he'll get the hint.

Maggie0829

I work with two people just like the one you described.

My one officemate in my location slops on his food and constantly clears his throat.  He seriously can't go 5 minutes without clearing it.  And he tries to do it quietly and a little at a time but that is just worse.  Sometimes I just want to scream "F-ing cough it up!"  But I don't.  He also licks his slips while he talks, it is gross.

The other person in my other location eats all day long and slops on everything she eats.  She also sucks the food off of her fingers which makes loud smacking noises.  She is also a long time smoker and has that smokers cough.  It makes me gag every time I hear it.

So when I am at work I tend to listen to pandora with both of my ear buds in all day everyday.  Sometimes I just want to take a break from the music and give my ears a rest from the earbuds but I know if I do I will have to endure the smacking, coughing, hacking, slopping, etc noises from my lovely coworkers.

gmcr78

I used to sit next to a guy who made the most disgusting noises.  One day I got so sick of hearing him make sucking sounds while eating something I finally told him as politely as I could, "Dave, I'm not sure if you realize but you're making a sucking sound while you're eating that".  It stopped for like a day.  This guy ate all day long, and would do so loudly.  He'd also burp and then act surprised about it: "Oh!  excuse me".  Ugh, it makes me sick just thinking about it.
I have since left that job. 
I would suggest headphones/earbuds, and if music distracts you, what about white noise stuff?  Like ocean sounds, rain, etc.  I am sure you can find something like that to purchase or download.
Good luck!

PrincessJas

GMCR and Stagemanager - I hadn't thought of nature tracks, but I bet that would do the trick!  Thank you so much to everyone for listening to my rant and empathizing!!

PrincessJas

GMCR and Stagemanager - I hadn't thought of nature tracks, but I bet that would do the trick!  Thank you so much to everyone for listening to my rant and empathizing!!

jennylee813

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_officemate-rant?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:87da698e-dd1a-4c64-8f10-2cb223bb7dffPost:d2c28ad2-1e34-442a-b4ee-552fda15eba7">Re:Officemate rant...</a>:
[QUOTE]What about putting in headphones and playing <strong>nature tracks or rainstorm sounds</strong> instead of music? I'm not at my desk right now, but I have a site bookmarked on my computer that is just rain.
Posted by StageManager14[/QUOTE]

Nature sounds would be good. Water sounds = constant pee breaks for me!

mrsbiss2be

Gah. I hate that. Loud eaters are sooo annoying. It's unfortunate that you have to share an office with this guy. I have a guy in my office that clears his throat and nose at the same time. I feel like puking everytime I hear it.