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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
I have a feeling some of this might hit home with, I dunno, one or two of you. This was part of a survey conducted on behalf of an online learning company named SkillSoft. Share your biggest work irritants in the comments.
The 10 Biggest Job Irritations
1. Seeing others not pulling their weight.
2. Managers changing their minds about what they want doing.
3. Lack of support from managers.
4. Pressure from managers.
5. Feeling put-upon by managers.
6. Interruptions by colleagues.
7. Interruptions by managers.
8. Managers who bully.
9. Lack of support from colleagues.
10. Co-workers who bully.
Comments (28)
Comment
In The Magazine
I can’t stand colleagues who make tons of personal calls during the day and speak super loud while on the calls.
Also, when people have their radio on loud enough so I faintly hear their music. I can currently hear 3 people’s music; one of them is 12 ft away from me and I’m still tortured by it. They all play horrible, horrible music that repeats throughout the day. Unfortunately we can’t wear headphones.
posted by susan on 6-30-2008 at 2:54 pm
#1 is #1 in my book of complaints. I don’t care when you come in to work, when you leave, how many websites you go to as long as you do your share of the work!!
posted by JaneM on 6-30-2008 at 3:03 pm
I think my biggest pet-peeve is #3. I actually just quit my job because of it. :)
posted by GTT on 6-30-2008 at 3:11 pm
People who smell BAD…. like coffee and cigarettes. I don’t careif you smoke, but take a mint and wash your frreaking hands.
People who check voicemail on speakerphone.
People who shout on the phone.
posted by QT314159265 on 6-30-2008 at 3:36 pm
#1 & 10 are definitely on my list, along with Susan’s first irritation.
My addition is not being busy. I feel like if I have to be at work, I should be well . . . actually working. For one, I’m getting paid to be there, but more than that, I have a few back problems, so sitting in an office chair all day really sucks. If I’m busy I don’t mind, or I at least know it’s worth it. If I’m not busy, I just sit there thinking about how I could be elsewhere in more comfort. I’m also someone who just hates not being busy.
posted by nutmeag on 6-30-2008 at 4:25 pm
How about people that come by and borrow your stuff, but never return it? CDs, calculators, those wrist gel pads, and lest I forget our good buddy Milton from “Office Space”, staplers!
posted by kevin on 6-30-2008 at 4:54 pm
Number 8 is big in my department… along with #7 … being told that this Job needs to be done right now and then 5 minutes later being told that this other job now needs to be done right now… then a third one is required right now…
posted by Heather on 6-30-2008 at 5:51 pm
Mine is rather specific…there’s a lady in my office who drinks apple cider vinegar because it supposedly helps her digestion. It smells DISGUSTING, and everyone is grossed out by her. I wish there was a way we could tell her to drink that stuff at home.
posted by Jessica on 6-30-2008 at 6:23 pm
LOUD personal phone calls. The rest of us are trying to work while having to endure an hour of “Unh-uhh. Oh no she didn’t!”
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 6-30-2008 at 7:01 pm
Smokers. The smell, the frequent breaks (through which I am working!), the sounds of them coughing up a lung.
That may partially fall under #1, though.
posted by Dawn on 6-30-2008 at 7:50 pm
coworkers that take way too many smoke breaks and managers that leave early when everything is going bad.
posted by beth on 6-30-2008 at 8:19 pm
My job is plagued by numbers 2 through 8. It’s a real good thing I’m leaving in mid-August.
posted by leavinginaugust on 6-30-2008 at 10:54 pm
#1 is spot on. The one thing that drives me crazy at my workplace are the guys who spend their time goofing off and actually look down upon the people who do work.
The irritations with managers isn’t so much of a problem for me since I barely see mine, but since I work in retail, the thing I hate almost as much as the above are customers that ask you a question, the act like they already know the answer and it’s basically better than what you’re telling them. That, and equipment that you NEED to do you’re job right that is too old and/or inefficient to replace, but is used anyway for ‘budget reasons’.
Heh. My recaptcha is ‘chapter silver’ sounds like something from a sci-fi fantasy book.
posted by heather on 7-1-2008 at 1:37 am
People who come in when they’re infectious.
posted by drunko on 7-1-2008 at 2:12 am
I scored 9 out of 10 on this one. No wonder I went home exhausted and discouraged most days. Let’s also add slacking coworkers who spend an hour or more a day talking sports with other slackers, including my ex-boss, a bully himself, among other unsavory things. And he made close to 6 figures for it!
Something tells me he’s in for a rude awakening in his next job, where he (hopefully) won’t have a weasel boss to protect him!
posted by gladtobeoutofthere on 7-1-2008 at 2:31 am
How about the fingernail clippers?
Come on people, do it at home!
posted by Me on 7-1-2008 at 7:39 am
1. Ill-fitting clothes on fellow co-workers… Ladies (and gentlemen), buy the bigger size, no one is going to look at the inside tag!! Just b/c you can still squeeze into your size 6 doesn’t mean it fits!
2. Too much information… If I don’t talk to you on a daily basis, don’t feel compelled to tell me your secrets… I do not want to know!
3. People who infiltrate my workspace and have loud conversations about existentialism and gas prices… take it someplace else, please…
I’m a little worked up now… good topic…
posted by Sarah on 7-1-2008 at 9:10 am
wow nail clippers? I have been lucky enough not to come across anyone using nail clippers at their desk… so far at least…
posted by Solinkable on 7-1-2008 at 9:10 am
my biggest pet peeve is people who take over my desk while i am at lunch or on a break and play on my computer and refuse to leave when i return. leave my desk alone please!
posted by mr. grumpus on 7-1-2008 at 9:24 am
Mine has to be the loud personal phone calls. A coworker of mine is constantly on the phone with her husband who is completely useless and needs her to tell him where things are and make his appointments. He doesn’t work. If I hear the word “Sweetie”- her pet name for him, one more time I think I might explode.
recaptcha: faucett will- will what?
posted by Andi on 7-1-2008 at 10:17 am
When I first came to my current job I had the co-worker from hell: She was on personal calls all day or talking sh** with another co-worker. She snacked all day long and chewed with mouth open. Then she got into lollipops - it sounded obscene. She always came in late and spent the first hour or so away from her desk; I guess I should have been grateful!
She kissed the boss’s ass big time and got away with everything.
I finally got out of that department and have a good boss now.
I work when there’s work. I don’t care what anyone else does as long as it doesn’t disturb me.
posted by BassMan on 7-1-2008 at 11:19 am
Ug… the nail clipper problem plagues me everywhere I go. Most of the time, people seem to do it while going to the bathroom. Every time I go into a stall, there are fingernails scattered all over the place like little fallen moons.
Anyone without really walls and a door should be banned from owning a speaker phone, too. I used to sit next to a woman who hated holding the phone, so she made all of her calls with the speaker… she would talk to her daughter after school, talk to friends about last night’s episode of whatever, chastise employees who she felt were not performing well, etc. She also had some twisted notion that leopard-print spandex pants and a women’s sport jacket look fabulous together.
posted by kp on 7-1-2008 at 12:39 pm
People who are easily irritated by minor things and make lists of them for websites. I’m going to the breakroom to steal your food right now.
posted by Nate on 7-1-2008 at 12:40 pm
I totally agree w/ #1 and 2. I’d like to add managers that know less than the people they supervise.
posted by Irritated on 7-1-2008 at 5:28 pm
when you ask coworkers to pitch on mundane tasks that need to be when it is
slower and complain later later that they are being called lazy.
posted by dmls on 7-1-2008 at 10:43 pm
Seeing others not pulling their weight, with all the variations on that theme is by far my number one. Needing to “look busy” was always an aggravating part of military life. In fact, being judged by minute variations in how you “look” in general and especially your expression when given information or orders was always something to be self-aware of/ The Damned if you do, damned if you don’t result from either a lack of good policy beforehand, or manager reaction after the fact is something I’ve heard others complain about frequently.
posted by Brian on 7-2-2008 at 11:51 am
Where’s “REPLY ALL” guy? Like the entire company cares about your comments to one particular co-worker. It’s like putting my head in a food processor.
posted by Kevin H on 7-2-2008 at 12:10 pm
Having to listen to both ends of a phone call because people are too lazy walk over and talk in person. Come on now, she’s only 2 rows away–there is no need to call her on the phone.
posted by catherine ann on 7-2-2008 at 12:24 pm