So, I have been in my current position within the agency for what, 2 years now? We were originally in a different building and in that one, he was on the other side of the wall from me. I am normally friendly to people unless they give me a reason not to be, so when I first met the guy, I thought he was okay, though a Nebraska fan, so ya' know, a little suspect.
One thing I quickly learned about him was that he was a real smartass. Not a problem, I thought. I am, too! I once had an ex state that I was too sarcastic?! Is that a thing? However, I noticed that it wasn't just that he was a smart aleck. He repeatedly would go out of his way to aggravate someone. If he knew someone didn't like something, it was like he had to do whatever that was more often. Again, didn't seem like a big deal at first, but then something changed. He was always talking about things that were slightly, um, edgy?, you could say and he thought he was hilarious. Everyone was always saying, "Oh so-and-so, *haha* you shouldn't say those things, you could get into trouble." He was one of those people that always tried to push the envelope and people let him, because I guess they thought it wasn't worth the trouble to say anything and the director of our department was one of the people who just said, "Oh, so-and-so, you're just so funny..."
Well, in my old office I had a massive attention whore who did something very similar. Always had to speak out about everything in the office and try to make it all. about. them. Every single time. I'm just not a fan of these type of people. This guy is very similar to that, but almost worse, because he intentionally tried to provoke people.
He constantly brought up topics that were inappropriate or hurtful to others. Sometimes I heard him and cringed. Other times I intentionally put earbuds in so as not to get irritated myself. Luckily, at the time, he was on the other side of my cubicle wall and I rarely ran into him.
That all changed when we moved to our current building. (By the way, this guy is so obnoxious that he actually stole signage from our old building, because he thought it was hilarious to put up in his new cubicle, and people LET him!) Now he was in the same aisle, in the corner, and all of his buddies would come over and sit in his little corner cubie and talk and talk. Still, that wasn't too bad. What really made him super obnoxious was when they moved everyone around again and he was assigned a cubicle directly across the aisle from me. Now he was catty corner to his BFF, my coworker, who is the other half of my 2-person unit. This is the same lady who he made it a directive each day to go in and make some comment about how she looked that day. She's my age (upper 30s) and he's in his 50s. He would come in and ask about her necklace, ask why she wasn't wearing a certain shirt, ask about her weight (seriously?!) and just every day go in and say something mildly inappropriate.
Now they sit where he has a direct line of sight (and speak) to her. Look, I'm a morning person, y'all! I love the AM. Once I actually get out of bed, I'm awake and usually happily humming a tune while getting coffee started, making my lunch, and putting on makeup. I love the mornings, so, so much. I get to the office about 15 minutes ahead of my 'start time' and RELISH that quiet. The first hour of the day for me is like a meditation. I check my voicemails, my e-mails, finish up responses from the day before, go through anything due, and then start on my new requests.
Now, I have a LOUD person, who doesn't care one whit about his volume, that as SOON as my coworker comes in, has to speak with her. Not a big deal at first. Everyone has that "Hey, good morning!" crap they do with one another. This however, is not a 5-minute chat. That first week, he talked normally to loudly (way above a whisper every time) for an hour to 2 hours EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
I thought it was the newness of the situation for the first few days. Still annoying, but ya' know, easily written off. Nope! Every single day for the first two weeks it started in as soon as my coworker stepped foot in her cubicle and didn't usually end until an hour in.
Look, the guy already knows I don't like him. I don't care for the way he talks to people, so snotty and thinking he's just all that and a bag of chips. Add on that I don't care for how he treats women either and I really don't care for the guy. So, because he knows it, I couldn't be the one to say anything to his supervisor, because he would just excuse it away as me not liking him. Finally, even his friends and cubicle neighbors told his supervisor. He was talked to. He grumbled and talked some more. He was talked to again.
I just want 1 friggin' hour in the morning at peace. That's all I am asking!!
After he was spoken with, as soon as I reach for my mp3 player, he'll shut up within a few minutes, because I guess he thinks it's me complaining. But on days like today, when his boss isn't in the building, it's no holds barred! Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk....this guy will NOT shut up.
Okay, so there's a bit more to the story than just this, because I have said something to his supervisor about his inappropriate remarks to my coworker. He actually tried to defend himself, as he began degrading women AGAIN!
So, is this obnoxious behavior? I would say yes, but maybe your definition is different. A guy who is misogynistic, an attention whore, a constant provocateur on purpose, and not a little bit creepy with the younger ladies in our office, is obnoxious to me. Maybe I'm not stating my case well enough, but believe me when I say that most of you would NOT like this guy. He goes out of his way to make people feel like shit and he goes out of his way to exclude the people he doesn't care for, too. Plus, he does NOT want to get into a conversation with people who might possibly chastise him for his language and/or vulgarity. All of this adds up to obnoxious for me...what do you think? Am I not being charitable enough? Am I being too judgmental? All I know is in the mornings I just want a little peace and quiet. Do your work and I'll do mine. In the afternoon, after we've put in more than 4 1/2-5 hours, go for it, for a short while anyhow.
So, since I didn't do Tuesday 5 again this week, I may need to get a good topic for next week. Any ideas?
No comments:
Post a Comment