etiquette question
hi all I am in need of advice please.
I've been sharing the office with other people for about 5 months now. The new place is fine except I can hear my colleague eating everyday. I can hear every single apple-bite, chip-crunch, the sound of him scaping the plastic container (as he eats), the crunchy sound of the potato chip plastic, the sound of his teeth grinding the food, its driving me nuts.
I also eat my lunch in the office, I am aware that I may also make eating noises, but when I eat in the office, I do it rather quickly (because quite frankly I dont like eating in the office, lunch is always just sandwiches and maybe a banana, always light and quick.
Someone suggested to me that I should tell Paul that his eating noise is distracting me, but I feel that it is not polite. On the other hand its drives me crazy and I cant wait for him to stop eating or finish his food. Another thing to do is to go out of the office when he is eating but sometimes I am working halfway and I really need to peace to THINK when I work and then he comes in with a bag of chips and starts GRiNDING!!!
I havent learned how to switch off completely. HELP. I'm either very fussy or sensitive or Paul is simply a very noisy eater.
Should I tell him he is noisy or I keep quiet.
satchi
Hi, I have seen people using earplugs or headphones in the office. But, Its actually the smell of the food cooking in the microwave oven that annoys me most....I am desperately waiting for an invention that blocks that as well.
One time we had nearly 10 different nationalities in the office and had a number of varieties of smell to cope with...
I also share an office with some other people, I don't know about you but I like listening to music while studying and the best thing I ever purchased was some good headphones. Not only is the sound great but they cut out all sounds around you.
However if you don't like music and it is really killing you I would ask him to get some less crunchy food, just make a joke about it.
I'd just listen to music when he's eating.
How about a plug in air freshener to get rid of the smell?
ah my office is just like this! We have a random selection of nationalities so lots of different flavours and smells! the person beside me likes to eat raw carrots so it's very noisy, I just stick in music when she's eating, and there is another guy who is jsut the noisiest person ever, he even breathes really loud and huffs and sighs a lot as well as banging his stuff about the desk...when I'm feeling stressed as soon as I see them I stick on music or leave cos i can't handle the noise! I've never been very good at bringing these issues up with people...
the thing I find most difficult when listening to music (with ear-phones) is that I dont like having things plugged in my ears or something hanging over the top of my head (headphones). I guess this is silly of me.
I like to have music played in the background (at home, for instance) because then my ears are free, nothings sticking in them.
I haven't tried earplugs though, I have a new set at home, given to me by my trombone player friend. They wear them for certain pieces when the drums and timpani are very loud. I guess I just have to get used to wearing them when Paul is making noise with food.
In my old lab, we had a colleague who would sigh and breathe very very loudly; I dont know if this is because he was very heavy or he had a big stomach or this was his way of breathing. I did find this irritating as well. Because it happened several times a day (yes yes he has to breathe). But I realise that he HAD to breathe anyway, and HAD no control over this. But Paul could eat something else, he has control over what he brings to grind everyday HAHAHA
so the grinding noise is more irritating than the sighing and breathing...
Smell now is not so bad; thankfully nobody brings in strong-smellin foods; but teeth-plastic-chip-apple- noise.........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
this is the main reason i work from home. I'm constantly swearing at my computer, sighing at difficult work, making MANY cups of tea/coffee, jigging my leg. When I go into the office I talk constantly and get asked to be quiet :$ So I find it best to work here - my dog doesn't seem to mind me 8-)
Satchi, I share your pain!!
Hearing other people eat is possibly my biggest annoyance. It drives me to the point where i really think the men in white coats might want to come for a visit! I spent years training my brother to eat quietly because I really couldn't face being around him when he ate, and at school I avoided certain people like the plague to get away from the crunching and slurping and grinding... ahhhh!!
It's worse in an office situation especially when you're working because you can't get away from it. I've been in a similar situation, but luckily I am able to work with music so I tend to opt for the Ipod in such situations. I think if you can distract yourself while it's going on that's probably the best option. People don't take kindly to being told they "eat like a pig" (my partner was particularly offended by this... oops). Try making a phone call when he starts to eat, or go do some printing/ photocopying. There is the option to have a quiet word, but I personally would feel terrible for letting someone know I found their eating utterly disturbing.
Good luck!
hi its satchi again. We have a new colleague whos just joined the team.
He is an EATER too.
Now it is 1314hrs; Paul the 1st has started on home-packed meal in plastic tupperware (will soon be scraping)
Paul the 2nd is eating apple now.
Satchi the One and Only is going out for a walk....
Satchi you make me laugh! I totally understand though, I really hate people eating loudly especially when I am trying to work, I don't like eating in front of people unless they are eating as well so I don't really understand people eating in an office anyway. My main annoyance is people eating in seminars, there was a girl in my class who was generally annoying anyway, but always used to eat messy sandwiches in class, loudly as well...I was quite pleased when she dropped out!
I think its a very difficult thing to bring up in a serious way that would make him change his behaviour, I think you are doing the right thing by going for a walk!
Satchi you make me laugh! I totally understand though, I really hate people eating loudly especially when I am trying to work, I don't like eating in front of people unless they are eating as well so I don't really understand people eating in an office anyway. My main annoyance is people eating in seminars, there was a girl in my class who was generally annoying anyway, but always used to eat messy sandwiches in class, loudly as well...I was quite pleased when she dropped out!
I think its a very difficult thing to bring up in a serious way that would make him change his behaviour, I think you are doing the right thing by going for a walk!
Oh I totally agree - I can't stand the sound of people eating when I'm not. Apples and crisps are the worst. I'm sure they're not overly noisy at all, but it's just that I can hear it when the office is quiet and it really makes me cringe! :-) And folk slurping coffee or tea really gets me too - do they really need to?!!
