I work as a night security guard at an apartment building, and one tenant is seriously starting to annoy me. (Note, it's not the same person as I mentioned before, who made offensive and racist comments)
When I'm at work, I like to set up my office desk in a certain way. The area right in front of me is where whatever I'm using right at the moment goes. Food I'm eating, reports I'm writing, or my sketchbooks or reading material. Books or other things I'm not using tend to get pushed over to my left side, within easy reach.
This person comes into my office, and ALWAYS needs to comment on how I have my desk set up. "Oh, there's whatever book again, you always have it, it's always on that side".
I'm finding the constant commentary quite annoying. He always feels the need to point it out every single time he's in my office. Normally this would just be annoying, but this individual has a reputation as a crank, and I wonder just what his motivation is for the constant comments.
Now, before anyone gets into this, we guards are allowed to read/write/sketch in between rounds. As long as we're not using laptops, DVD players, or electronics, we can do things to pass the time between walk-arounds. And our choice of reading material is left to our own discretion, as long as it's not in the vein of porn or hate literature. And I've got an active mind- I can't abide enforced boredom- staring at an empty desk or wall until it's time to walk around, or something happens that requires my attention. So reading, writing, or sketching is good- it keeps me awake and alert, helps time go by, and keeps my mind from turning on itself with brooding and the like.
So is there an E-Hell approved way to ask this person why he needs to make the same comments every time he comes into my office, or ask that the comments stop?