Tuesday, March 25, 2008

White Noise


To accompany our lesson on airline etiquette a few days ago, I am going to make a point about office etiquette........ USE HEADPHONES. That's right folks, it's as simple as that. When you work in a cube farm, the noise you make travels to the people around you. Be it an enthusiastic phone call or a favorite song, you are sharing this audio experience with your neighbors. Now, I recognize that there isn't much you can do about the phone thing except being mindful of it and trying to keep your voice at a decent level, but the music can be controlled.

A new girl moved into the cube that mine shares a wall with on the next hallway over. She has a small clock radio on her desk that she plays 24/7... not kidding. I got here at 5:30 yesterday morning and it was on! I checked and she wasn't there so I turned the volume off. By doing this, I found out that she comes into work at 7:30 (at which time she turned it back on). She plays it very quietly to the point where it is likely that only she and I can hear it. Unfortunately this plays on one of my biggest pet peeves..... I can't stand it when people play music loud enough to where you can't ignore it but quietly enough to where you can't really tell what song it is. In this case, I can't even tell the genre so the noise is like a constant buzzing in my ear. This is the Chinese water torture of the digital age. I haven't been introduced to this girl, so I feel awkward asking her to either desist or purchase headphones.... my neighbor to the other side suggested I walk over calmly, pick up the radio and smash it..... I rather like this idea... perhaps a bit too much :)

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