Annoying things our coworkers do

[twinkletoes]

All right, have at it - what annoying things do your coworkers do?

I'll start:

-I have a coworker about my age (mid-20s) who likes to titter and will either talk to people in a little girl voice (this is when she talks to the men in our office), or talk to them like she's their mother (mostly me).  It drives me up the wall, and for so many different reasons!

-This same coworker likes to bring in home-made treats (she's the one who is the awful cook, for those of you keeping track).  We're in a department that is mostly male in an industry that is rather "old boys club" (so I *really* think this is a terrible idea), and now some of the men 'expect' us women to bring in treats and goodies.  I've had a few men ask why I don't bring in treats to share, and I respond "I will after you bring in some homemade goodies!"  That shuts them up.

-My department borders on another department, and we're separated by a wall.  There is someone who is very partial to grilled onions, and while I'm sure their sandwich was lovely, the place smells like an old, sweaty gym for *days* after.

-There is a receptionist, who is very, very nice, but she has a habit of talking your ear off.  This always seems to happen when I really need to use the bathroom, and I swear, she doesn't pause for breath!

-I have another coworker who always waits until the last minute to ask me to do something.  It's always right when I'm getting ready to leave, and it drives me bananas.

Edited cuz I'm stoopid.

[Lisbeth]

I don't have specifically annoying co-workers, but the following would annoy me:

1) Leaving operational messes for me to clean up (accounting or tax in my case)
2) Leaving jams in copiers or faxes, dirty dishes in the kitchen sink, or messes in the restrooms
3) Cell phones with special ring tones that play all day
4) Taking calls while trying to deal with me instead of asking if they can get back to the caller in a few minutes
5) Co-workers who talk too much near my desk-I like it to be fairly quiet so I can concentrate on my work
6) Surly attitudes from co-workers
7) Putting folders on my desk when I'm not there with "See me" written on an attached Post-it instead of holding onto the folders and giving them to me when I'm there, with instructions as to what to do with those folders (this one I find really annoying because I feel invaded when this happens-I know it's not rational, it's just how I feel)

[hobish]

-As much as i like the guy who sits next to me, his singing drives me crazy. I love Nirvana as much as the next Gen-X'er but i don't know whether to laugh or cry when Dan sings along with "Rape Me" in his reedy little voice.

-The coworker i used to sit next to, but who is now sort of diagonal from me ... think cube farm, only with 3.5x6x3.5 desks ... never ever ever stops making noise. If she isn't talking she is singing, if she isn't singing she is humming, if she isn't humming she is making little BliP! and WeeP! noises.

The NexT oNe iS NoT FoR tHe SQueaMiSH

-Finally, there is Trina. Trina i like, too; but lately i have been avoiding her. I feel kind of bad about it. She has been a shoulder for me to cry on in the past and i am sure hope her current phase is going to pass. You see, Trina just had 2 children in quick succession and it is ALL she can talk about. It is bad enough when every single last topic turns into something about one of her kids; but today she told me exactly when & where she lost her mucous plug with the 2nd kid. I will add 'mucous plug' to 'epesiotomy' on the list of words i never need to hear again.

ILOVEMYJOBILOVEMYJOBILOVEMYJOBILOVEMYJOB...

[FolkRockFan]

I work from home, so my "coworker" at the moment is my cat. She's no problem, though *grins*

In the past, though, I've had some really, really strange coworkers.

-The two older men who worked in the office with me. They showed up at, like, 5 a.m. and spent the entire day cussing each other out - often within earshot of customers.

-One of those two men, who was in his late sixties or early seventies, listened to my phone conversations (they were work related, incidentally). When I got off the phone, he would usually tell me that I had a nice phone voice. I thanked him because I thought this was a compliment. Wrong. A few months into my employment there, he told me that I should be a phone sex operator. He said this NOT TWENTY MINUTES AFTER he had taken the company's mandatory sexual harassment training. *sighs*

[Urbanfairy]

One of my co-workers likes to be a 'victim'.
I am fed up of hearing her moan about how she has no friends, that no-one ever invites her out, she is always at home on her own etc, but as soon as you say, Fine, lets go for a drink, she has an excuse at the ready, which usually involves her friends from home!!!

Either you don't have friends or you do!!!

[HushHush]

Tattle-tale co-workers.  My nylons snagged on the screw that holds my keyboard tray in place about an hour after I got to work.  I threw them away and didn't think anything more about it until my supervisor said that I needed to buy some because I was out of dress code.  But lets ignore the people that have cleavage down to their navals and camel-toes because my perfectly professional skirt doesn't have nylons on underneath it because of the cheap-o desks they provide for us.

The stinky co-worker who takes a different timed lunch everyday so you never know when your nice, quiet, stink-free lunch will be interrupted by his smoke-infused body and micro-waved shrimp.

Charlotte

[NYGirl100]

I have a co-worker who insists on e-mailing new pictures of her baby every single month.  The baby is now 18 months.  I think it's time to stop. 

[hobish]

I have a co-worker who insists on e-mailing new pictures of her baby every single month.  The baby is now 18 months.  I think it's time to stop. 

Oh yes, that's a good one.

...add to that anyone who sends me pics of ultrasounds. Even some of the guys have started doing this. Dude! I don't even know your wife - i really don't need to see the contents of her uterus.

[kathrynne]

I have a co-worker who insists on e-mailing new pictures of her baby every single month.  The baby is now 18 months.  I think it's time to stop. 

Oh yes, that's a good one.

...add to that anyone who sends me pics of ultrasounds. Even some of the guys have started doing this. Dude! I don't even know your wife - i really don't need to see the contents of her uterus.

Really, any details having to do with your pregnancy or children, especially in abundance, whether via email or face-to-face. We're here to work. If you're explaining why you need to sneak away for extra bathroom breaks, that's one thing, but I have no desire to see ultrasounds or discuss details.

[kathrynne]

Tardiness. My number one complaint about coworkers.

If you're working the day shift at a fast food joint or retail store and you're late, somebody has to work extra hard to get stuff ready on time. If you're working the afternoon shift and you're late, some poor schmuck from days is expected to stay until you're there and finally ready to work. Sometimes day shift people actually have lives to go home to.

Babbling incessantly on the phone about non-work things. It doesn't matter if this is your personal cell or the company phone, it is not what you're here to do.

[Rei-chan]

I've mentioned this coworker on another thread, but here's the newest list of their antics:

-Total hypochondriac:  Every single day, one of their "maladies" is acting up.  It's either "my fibro (as in myalgia)" or the daily repeated 15 minute trips to the restroom because their "stomach is acting up".  When asked if they have been to the doctor, they can't afford it, yet they eat out for lunch every single day and talk about the new stuff they bought.

-Putting off work on others:  Yesterday, we had 10 cases of stock to unpack, put up what we could, and put the rest in the stockroom.  I made my way through 6 cases before CW came in, and they were supposed to do the rest.  When I came in to open this morning, it was still sitting right where it was yesterday at 3 pm, so I was expected to finish it up.

-Taking liberties with lunch hours:  Our schedule is set up so that there is a supervisor to cover the afternoon, so that the opener and closer both get lunch, if their shifts are long enough to warrant one.  CW tends to take "long lunches" at approximately 1 hour before I am scheduled to leave the front, making me late clocking out 90% of the time.

BTW, yes, I have spoken to my boss about this, but we are stuck waiting for the GM to make the decision to get rid of CW.   

[weber06]

My boss doesn't know how to use the ordering system.  So i do the ordering and he approves it as I don't ask for unreasonable things.  But we do have a budget.  My coworker (in the same group, but different boss and project) probably has a different budget.  When his boss asks me to order a general group piece of equipment usually it's in my best interest to get the equipment.

Lately my coworker has come up to me saying, "I need you to order this for me."  Not only does he expect me to order it, but he expects me to research it as well.  Mainly because he wants a work table and hasn't the foggiest idea of where to find one.  Of course he can't find basic supplies either.  hello!  My budget.  And when did I become his personal assistant?!

[Sirius]

I work from home, so my "coworker" at the moment is my cat. She's no problem, though *grins*

Mine is!  She likes to crawl into my lap when I'm trying to type!  So, when I stop what I'm doing, take off my headphones, turn off the dictation machine, and invite her into my lap, she gets in a snit and looks down her whiskered nose at me.  

But compared to some of the co-workers I've had in the past, a cat is a welcome change.  At least my cat doesn't talk about her husband's low sperm count or how badly she wants to get pregnant (these were active duty Air Force sergeants who did this) or the officer who was a micromanaging nitwit.  He knew zero about my job, but there he was in my cubicle telling me how to do my job.  Since I was a civilian I could tell him to get lost, and I did (I worded it more politely than that, but that was the gist of what I said.)  Or the sergeant at an earlier job who told me to my face that he could do my job better than I could.  Well, shortly thereafter I got a different job and left, so he had a chance to prove it.  The report I got from a friend who still worked in the office was that he messed it up royally and someone else had to straighten it out.

[Tosha Go]

I really have to wonder sometimes...

None of my coworkers really bother me enough to warrant complaining about them (maybe except one  younger guy who works in the back and only knows how to answer a question with a shrug and a thousand yard stare).

Does this mean I am the annoying person? 

[Joannie81]

My biggest complaint is my coworker who uses the computer without letting me get on at all.  Not everyone in our department has their own computer, and some of us have to share.  If I ask for it, she says she still needs it, so I have to go find one that isn't in use.  Not always possible.  I hate doing that anyways, because I don't like to go to someone Else's desk to use their computer even though a couple of coworkers have said to go ahead and use theirs.  We have spoken with the supervisor and manager about getting computers for all, but it just isn't in the budget.  And every month I have to explain to my manager why my tracking forms are late.  Luckily she is understanding and allows this.