Co-Workers & Other People Who Drive You Nuts

[DudeAsInCool]

Sometimes I run across things from the web that are funny but hard to categorize here, so I thought I'd start with this post I saw at Slate today. Feel fee to add your own:

Dear Prudence,

I'm stuck in an office with a co-worker who is driving me slowly insane. She's older than both my superior and I, so I don't know how to approach her about her behavior. She incessantly talks loudly to herself in high-pitched screeching cartoony voices, makes what I can only describe as "squirrel noises," and squeals like a stuck pig whenever she gets an e-mail/fax/etc. Moving desks, wearing headphones, or listening to music are not options. My friends are telling me to just ignore it, but to me this is like sitting next to a dentist's drill all day. I'm starting to really hate coming to work, though I do like my job. How do I get her to stop or get over it?

—Coming Unglued

Dear Come,

This girl sounds like she's escaped from the Disney animation department. Is there a chance she may be mentally disturbed? If she is just, um, shall we say, unconventional, then someone superior to her has to tell her that the sound effects are unsuitable for the workplace and must stop. As for your friends' advice to ignore all this, it is in no way possible to disregard a worker who talks to herself in cartoon voices, mimics a squirrel, and greets each incoming fax or e-mail with the sounds of swine. Good luck to you.

http://www.slate.com/id/2120490/

[rainbowdemon]

:rotfl:

[slum_goddess]

squeals like a stuck pig whenever she gets an e-mail/fax/etc.

it doesn't take much.

[DudeAsInCool]

The head of my homeowners association is a pig!

Dear Cary,

I live in a condo -- one with rules and a board but very little money due to the fact that others have systematically left their dues unpaid and their units unkempt. When asked about their delinquent status they seem to feel entitled to slack due to their status as very busy "business owners."

If you were to visit my house on any given day when I had not been working around the common areas, you might think that you were visiting rural Appalachia. The theme song from "Deliverance" would waft out and a smell of socks, dogs, halitosis, garbage and the Great Unwashed would drift out of a certain condo unit. It makes you want to stop, drop and roll to olfactory safety.

If it were early morning -- before 11 a.m. -- you might be treated to the sight of the neighbor's ample body, naked in her bed, flanked by her pit-bull mix dogs, chest rising and falling in her deep, sonorous sleep. If it were evening, the dogs might launch themselves against the window, looking vicious and mean.

Welcome to my world, one where common courtesy becomes "why I can leave my garbage outside on the common area porch for you to take out" and where mystery abounds with things like "how did three pairs of XXL black thong underwear get left out in the yard?" Nicely worded e-mails and attempts to bring about change through the normal means have absolutely no effect on this person.

What do I do? I'm afraid to even send this in for fear she'll read it and attack me. She's the president of our homeowners association, and I am at my wits' end. Please help.

Sanford and Sun Porch

Dear Sanford,

There are lots of things that you could do that might make you feel better but would not help you sell your place. In the middle of the night, for instance, you could paint your neighbor's window black so you don't have to see her. ...

http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2005/06/...bors/index.html