In my last office I was in a completely separate wing of the building, all by myself. It was like going into the office on a Saturday, when everything was quiet and you were able to just crank through stuff… except that was my every day. I loved it for awhile and then I started to get bored. Afterall, we spend a lot of time at work and you need a certain amount of interaction throughout the day or you might start to go crazy. And, when you are all alone you start to get relaxed about things like… say…farting… and then next thing you know your body forgets to hold back when you are in public because it doesn’t normally need to. Not that that happened to me when I was grocery shopping…. I was just giving you an example.
In my new office, I am right in the thick of things. My desk is directly off the kitchen, so I hear all of that commotion, and the cube walls are equivalent to holding up a Kleenex between the desks. This is a huge problem for me because I have major noise pet peeves. I think I would rather get shot in the arm with a paint gun than have to hear eating and drinking noises. Now, I know you think that sounds dramatic, but I am completely serious. The first bite my neighbor takes of an apple and I want to put my head in the drawer and promptly shut it. Hard. I silently yell in the direction of other desks, hands flailing, regularly throughout the day. “You better not blow another damn bubble!”. “Cut your apple up and take smaller bites, you sound like a horse!”. “Do you have to laugh for the world to hear!?! We get it, you are happy-now shut the hell up!”.
I have tried earplugs, but it makes my head feel like the air is being closed in and my head is going to explode. Please refrain from obvious airhead jokes, here. I have tried my IPod, but after a while my ear cartilage starts to get sore.
I guess I am just going to have to get used to it or start taking spreadsheets to the bathroom stall… people are usually pretty quiet in there and tend to not take in food.
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