One too many bad habits!

[jmarvellous]

I dealt with a neighborly office nail-clipper for five years. By putting on my headphones after noticing and cringing. I don't normally work with headphones, but for 1 or two songs (or even no songs, just to muffle the noise) I could do it. And cringe, but bear it. I'm pretty sure you can, too, even if it means covering your ears with your hands and directing your eyes away from it.
He even did his toes.

Same goes for the sucking sounds, though I have no idea what you mean there.

As far as perfume, I think you're out of luck unless you just TALK to her about the issue. We were able to handle a woman who doused herself in a gallon of perfume and napped near my department mid-shift, giving us all serious headaches, by asking her supervisor to get her not to nap near us. But I'm fairly certain "your perfume smells bad" is not the way to handle it.

[O'Dell]

The thing about the nail clipping is that it's unprofessional to groom yourself at the office. I know the OP wants it to stop because  she has a personal aversion to it, but their supervisor has every right to tell the Mad Nail Clipper that she needs to do that stuff at home or in the restroom. No one would do that in front of clients/customers/big bosses, right? Then show the same respect to coworkers.

And toe nails?! *boggle*

[BarensMom]

The bad perfume is a health issue, so you are well within your rights to ask her to not wear scent.  If she refuses, go to your supervisor and present it as a health issue.

The nail clipping at her desk is a productivity issue. Unless it is during lunch, she should be working, not clipping her nails.

Teeth sucking - get headphones or buy her a big pack of flossers or fuzzy toothpicks.

[Moray]

The bad perfume is a health issue, so you are well within your rights to ask her to not wear scent.  If she refuses, go to your supervisor and present it as a health issue.

The nail clipping at her desk is a productivity issue. Unless it is during lunch, she should be working, not clipping her nails.

Teeth sucking - get headphones or buy her a big pack of flossers or fuzzy toothpicks.

Yeah, there's no way that could go wrong.

Re: nail clipping, aside from asking politely (once), it's not your job to monitor her productivity and "it grosses me out" isn't a good reason to run to your boss and demand a change. Everyone has coworkers with annoying habits; dealing with that is part of being in the workforce.

The perfume is truly the only thing you have a right to address. When you do, please keep your complaint to "Co-worker, the perfume you're wearing today gives me a horrible headache. Could you please not wear it to the office again?" If you call her perfume "awful", either to her or to your boss, it will only come off as you being petty and disliking the scent.

[Mental Magpie]

The thing about the nail clipping is that it's unprofessional to groom yourself at the office. I know the OP wants it to stop because  she has a personal aversion to it, but their supervisor has every right to tell the Mad Nail Clipper that she needs to do that stuff at home or in the restroom. No one would do that in front of clients/customers/big bosses, right? Then show the same respect to coworkers.

And toe nails?! *boggle*

This.  It's not only unprofessional, it's rude.  Personal grooming is to be done in private.

[spookycatlady]

My cube neighbour clipped her fingernails multiple times a day!   Every time she got on the phone for a personal call, I could hear that sound "clipclipclip."  I suspected that she used a teeny tiny set of clippers and only did one nail at a time.  I have an involuntary physical reaction to that noise-- I don't know why, but I get nauseous and I twitch.  She also had terrible table manners and other annoying personal habits.

I kept my complaints to myself, except about her scented hand lotion.  I get migraines from most commercial scents.  I told her a couple of times about my sensitivity, but I had to start going home sick when she applied her lotion (accidentally? she said).  When I informed my manager, I was direct and without judgement, "Clippy's moisturizer has a chemical in it that makes me ill.  I'll be back tomorrow, provided my medication works."  Since the sensitivity was documented (I'm the reason for the "No Scents make Sense!" signs from HR in the bathroom  , I didn't get any grief about having to leave.

I only had to do that twice, then the lotion magically disappeared.  Then only two more times when she started using a scented body spray in her cubicle after her afternoon walk around the block.  ("But you said the lotion bothered you! I didn't think perfume would!"

As for her other habits, I eventually found out another coworker was also driven to distraction by the clipping, the snorting, loud personal calls, inappropriate comments (she caught me wincing and twitching in my cubicle).  We started a game, just between the two of us.  We would each pick one of Clippy's repeat offenses and then discreetly tally them over the week.  On Friday, the one with the least amount of check marks bought the morning coffee.  We also made a point of bringing up some of her redeeming qualities (generous, helpful, animal rescuer) during our coffee run, just to ensure we weren't building her up as the Office Villain.  Our game was pretty juvenile and not recommended.

Even though I commiserate with you, OP, I don't really know how you can broach any of these other complaints with manners and grace.  You can't control her, so you will have to manage your reactions.

[NotTheNarcissist]

OP I worked next to a chronic drummer and tapper and hummer (pencils, fingers, mouse, toes) and whistler for 6 years ....so I'm empathize. 8 -9 hours daily. He flossed his teeth at his cube 2 times as well.

First complaint to manager was not by me, but the one who complained was told to buy headphones; manager truly did not care even though productivity was affected.

Ok, fast forward 5 years & now my ears are burned out. I got so sick of having to wear headphones for hours on end. One day I could not take it anymore....

By this time not only me, but 3 other people told co-irker to quieten down, that he was so distracting that we could not think. What we didn't mention is a chronic drummer had been fired years earlier for failing to heed warnings.

How many times did I ask him to quieten down? I can't remember. He would just look up, pull off his headphones & laugh & say "Am I doing it again?"

Eventually, my sanity was beginning to crack. I went to my manager who had already said he was open to moving my cube. Fine with me; i didnt care. However, no action was ever taken. It was all talk.

That day was beautiful though because unbeknown to me, my boss was out; nerves still frayed I went to his boss' office, all of 5 feet away, & enlightened her as to the state of my nerves.

The next day the co-irker was moved. Not only was he moved, he was put outside her door... Now when he starts drumming & humming, she sends him an instant message to cool it.

I find the whole thing sad. Sad because a) co-irker lives on a lonely planet clueless of how he comes across & devoid of basic social skills; b) there is a huge chasm between co-irker & I now. He is no longer friendly to me, no more jokes or questions about my vacation or weekend.

So to that point, if you go the route of confronting &/or complaining be prepared for some icy atmospheric changes, cold shoulder treatment & if she ever becomes your boss or other decision maker at your place of employment... awkward? Yes.

[Hmmmmm]

Have you said anything to co-worker? 

I'm not sure what teeth sucking is, but I bet that is going to be a sound that you are just going to need to adapt to.  I had a co-worker with horrible allergies.  I'll take nail clipping/teeth sucking over sniffeling and blowing any day.  But that's one of the joys of working in an office.

With the nail clipping, I think you can say something along "I hate to mention this but the sound of nail clipping is the same as nails on a chalkboard to me.  Would you mind not doing that in the office?  I'll even trade you, you name something that I do that you want me to stop doing."  And how many nails does she have?  It seems to me that 10 finger nails could reasonably clipped in a 5 min span.  Is it at a regular time where you can go get coffee or water? 

And on the perfume issue, start mentioning that strong smells give you headaches and see if she picks up on the hint. 

[misha412]

 

I must have worked with your co-irker in a previous job of mine. I was lucky to be placed next to a woman who did all the things you mentioned and many other annoying habits. (Chronic allergies, could not smell, wore a gallon of the worst perfume every day, lip smacking, open mouth chewing...I won't go on because my nerves are twitching as I remember her.) She was a nice enough woman except no one could stand to be seated next to her.

For those who are not familiar with the art of teeth sucking, it is the attempt to remove food from between the teeth by positioning the tongue in such a way that you can draw a large amount of air through the spaces between your teeth. The problem is that one attempt at this will not remove all particles of food. It takes multiple attempts combined with lip smacking and teeth licking to get the desired effect. The sound of teeth sucking is a mix of a reverse sneeze and a wet slurp. One time the sound would not be so bad. Listening to it for several minutes after a meal or snack would make me want to hold the woman down and floss her teeth for her.  (stuffing evil misha into her box)

OP, you have gotten good advice. I cannot say anything in addition except that you have my sympathies.

[cicero]

One of my co-workers does one too many things that drives me nuts.

1. She clips her nails.....every.single.day.
2. She sucks on her teeth after every meal.
3. She wear extremely bad perfume every now and then.

My managers know but they won't do anything about it. What can I do? I don't want to look like I'm picking on her because I really like her but these things drive me nuts!

you have my sympathies. i don't know what you can do.

My current office-mate has a host of really.annoying.habits. but i wouldn't think of talking to my boss about them- i think we *all* have annoying habits and i know that i am very sensitive to sounds and smells (not sure if it is *more* than others, but i know that certain "personal habit" sounds do annoy me. When office-mate starts her series of very.loud,drawn.out yawns (about every 10 seconds, each followed by "excuse me, i have to stop yawning like that"), or burping, (also followed by an excuse me), or chomping down vegetables, or plucking her chin hairs... i put my headphones on and thank my lucky stars that i don't have another colleague as my office-mate because Other Colleague smells really really bad...