I’m a farmer. A cubicle farmer.
Upon hiring, there was no room in the IT department for my actual, physical desk, so they put me on the far side of the building in the middle of another department. Actually, as it turns out, this was not a bad thing. It’s pretty quiet up here. Over in the IT side, it’s fairly noisy with all kinds of computer related conversation. In a way it’s kind of like Las Vegas, where the "bing bing" of slot machines all kind of blend together and create a droning backdrop.
The downside, however, is that when someone has a conversation near my cube, I can hear all of it.
Normally, I don’t have a problem with it. However there recently has been an employee that has joined that has what I perceive to be the most irritating voice in the world. Actually, their voice has only become irritating because of the attitude. I’ve never actually seen what they looks like, but I get the impression that they’re a "Millennial". When not around the job, I could totally imagine the words, "Bro" coming out of their mouth. Sample conversations overheard:
* Trying to sell extra playoff tickets when too many were purchase (for too much) at the last minute over Craigslist
* Checking tee time
* Getting into a near argument over an employment misunderstanding then leveling the "I’ve got a dozen offers that I could take, but I decided not to….yet"
* Low key flirting with the person in the cube next to me
This carelessness in handling personal business over the phone on company time is what I find somewhat irritating, but I could handle it if the topics weren’t so outrageously unnecessary. Okay, yes, I’ve called my bank from my office phone – to check on my mortgage refinance. Was it a personal call? Sure. Speaking with a bank is a little different from checking your tee time, in my opinion. The other thing that I consider in my mental checklist is how important in the "food chain" this person is. Since this person seems to be involved with web social media integration to a project, my internal comparison-o-meter has this person pegged way, way lower in value than their attitude and actions project.
That being said, sometimes I forget how irritating my voice is. Nasally, monotone, and droning. So, this person probably despises me for that.
I can live with it.
