Chatty took an hour long lunch break then proceeded to come back to her desk and eat!

January 20, 2015

Don't ask me what she was doing in the kitchen for that entire hour, but it wasn't eating...at least not all of her lunch! Also everyone else here takes a 30 minute lunch unless they are going out to lunch with someone, and then gets back to work. Nope she came in 2 hours late because of a doctor's appt and she said she had to stop at a storage locker and run a quick errand, then proceeded to do about 15 minutes of work and 45 minutes of walking around to gab with others in the office. Then took her hour long "lunch" break. Now is back at her desk eating an entire salad and munching away and reading her Kindle book on the computer!

January 20, 2015

Oh AND we just got a 10 minute run down on the movie Paddington by her! She also read us a list of all the characters and who played them and if we didn't know who the actor was, she proceeded to Google them and tell us all the movies they've been in and who they are married to, etc!! Good god! We couldn't get a word in edgewise to tell her to shut up if we wanted to!

January 20, 2015

Other people's performance really isn't any of your concern. She might have accommodations or a special work schedule set up with her supervisor that you know nothing about.

January 21, 2015

I wonder how good of a job you can be doing since you are timing her with exact precision all the workday! I don't feel sorry for you at all, who cares what this girl does? Why is it your problem, I don't get it?

January 21, 2015

You need to focus on doing your own work and stop watching/keeping track of what co-workers are doing. Things are not always what they appear to be, but even so it’s none of your concern.

January 21, 2015

Print off some "don't waste my time" meeting tokens, and give her a half-dozen for the week. She comes to your desk to chat without a token, and your door gets closed or headphones put on:

Meeting Tokens, for creating time scarcity | 43 Folders

January 21, 2015

Oh AND we just got a 10 minute run down on the movie Paddington by her! She also read us a list of all the characters and who played them and if we didn't know who the actor was, she proceeded to Google them and tell us all the movies they've been in and who they are married to, etc!! Good god! We couldn't get a word in edgewise to tell her to shut up if we wanted to!

And you are using your work time to complain about her at LS.

Is there anything about her that you find likable? Any tiny thing that you could build on?

January 21, 2015

Other people's performance really isn't any of your concern.

This isn't always true. When someome's peformance begins to affect my own performance, it definitely becomes a concern for me. One girl in my office calls in about 40% of the time and the rest of us get stuck picking up her slack when we barely have time to keep up with our own duties. It's now everyone's concern and we're fed up with it, along with our leadership who does nothing about the problem. Office morale is at its lowest. It's hard not to feel bad when you work your a** off and the dead weight next to you does absolutely nothing, but still makes the same amount.

January 21, 2015

Other people's performance really isn't any of your concern. She might have accommodations or a special work schedule set up with her supervisor that you know nothing about.

I wonder how good of a job you can be doing since you are timing her with exact precision all the workday! I don't feel sorry for you at all, who cares what this girl does? Why is it your problem, I don't get it?

I see both of your points, however, I do think it can be the OP's concern if it is negatively affecting the work environment.

Case in point, I have a coworker who has had some health issues and has been on an accommodated schedule since last March. This person and I work in close proximity and this person is rather loud. When meetings happen in her office, I hear it. When she takes 4 phone calls from her grown kids (this happens daily), I hear it. I use white noise apps, I wear headphones - anything to drown out the noise and distraction.This person has also been on a reduced schedule but the privilege has been abused. In turn, I have regularly wound up working 10 hour days in order to complete my work because I had to pick up the slack. It became particularly irritating when this person would come in late, leave early and take an hour lunch when I would have to rush through a lunch or eat at my desk.

Basically, what is her personal problems, her personal phone calls, and her personal chit chats with co-workers have become my problems because I can't get away from it and there isn't anyone I can go to who can do anything.

To the OP, I empathize. It is rough. When you are trying to get work done and you see someone who isn't working and they are getting paid to chit chat with others.

I will suggest if you can listen to headphones there are a lot of white noise apps out there that help drown out unwanted noise. My favorite is the sound of a railroad train on tracks.

January 21, 2015

I see both of your points, however, I do think it can be the OP's concern if it is negatively affecting the work environment.

Case in point, I have a coworker who has had some health issues and has been on an accommodated schedule since last March. This person and I work in close proximity and this person is rather loud. When meetings happen in her office, I hear it. When she takes 4 phone calls from her grown kids (this happens daily), I hear it. I use white noise apps, I wear headphones - anything to drown out the noise and distraction.This person has also been on a reduced schedule but the privilege has been abused. In turn, I have regularly wound up working 10 hour days in order to complete my work because I had to pick up the slack. It became particularly irritating when this person would come in late, leave early and take an hour lunch when I would have to rush through a lunch or eat at my desk.

Basically, what is her personal problems, her personal phone calls, and her personal chit chats with co-workers have become my problems because I can't get away from it and there isn't anyone I can go to who can do anything.

To the OP, I empathize. It is rough. When you are trying to get work done and you see someone who isn't working and they are getting paid to chit chat with others.

I will suggest if you can listen to headphones there are a lot of white noise apps out there that help drown out unwanted noise. My favorite is the sound of a railroad train on tracks.

Thank you for seeing my point! I don't understand why others here don't see that! The reason I'm writing on here during my work time is because things have to go through her before they come to me so I'm sitting twiddling my thumbs waiting on her. That is why I am constantly looking at her computer screen to see if she is working! As I have said, NOBODY here rats on anyone else. That seems to be the unwritten rule. On top of me waiting on her to get me stuff, it comes down to the last day when she needs to get her work off to the publisher and golly, wouldn't you know it, she is in panic attack mode telling everyone in the dept. "Oh I'm going to need your help to get this done today because I don't know how to finalize these and I don't understand how to get the images off of this place and put them here" and a multitude of other things she just can't manage to do which means we need to put down our workload to chip in and get her stuff out the door, which could have been out the door 3 days earlier if she would have actually been working! Funny how she's been here 18 years and doesn't know how to do all this stuff but me and another girl who started on the same day 1 1/2 years ago and a guy who's been there over 25 years know how to do it all. She just assumes we will drop everything to do her work for her whenever a deadline approaches. We all upgraded our machines before Christmas but she just can't figure it out, it's not that hard, and whines that she just HAS to get her computer upgraded but won't worry about it now. She is just waiting for one of us to come over and walk her step by step through the process.

And THAT is why her being the only one in the office who doesn't work bothers me!

January 21, 2015

Other people's performance really isn't any of your concern. She might have accommodations or a special work schedule set up with her supervisor that you know nothing about.

Trust me, she does NOT have "special accommodations" set up! Our work schedule is flexible. People come in as early as 7AM and she is the latest at 10:30 or 11AM. Half the time she abuses coming in that late and has to "run an errand" and comes waltzing in about noon. Then after an hour she tells us she has to go to the post office, which is less than 2 blocks away, and is gone for 45 minutes! I'm sure she loves being there when everyone else is gone by 6 and she can spend the next two hours reading her book without being disturbed!

January 21, 2015

Op I think this co worker has become more of a obsession then a distraction don't mean to be offensive but it seams every few weeks there is another thread pop up about this women. Ive never commented until now and I only do cause its starting to get noticeable. There is always going to be people who carry less of their weight in office settings then others.

When I talk to my aunt (long time office worker) I hear of how this one dose this and that one dose that and my aunt gets pummeled with to much work and I genuinely feel a little bad especially since shes now in her 70s and is suppose to be a pardeium worker whose being used as full time but even then its not about one in particular over and over..

End of the day you cant control what this women dose and if your boss isn't willing to acknowledge her short comings then there's not much that can be done. But! that leaves you with some personal choices ether find a different job ask for a transfer or maybe just move away from her? if its an office isn't there other areas you could move your desk to?

I just dont see the point in letting this women continue to aggravate you this bad with out taking some sort of personal action to lessen it. Sure venting on here is great but its not solving the bigger problem in the long run..

Edited January 21, 2015 by TigerLilly78

January 21, 2015

This isn't always true. When someome's peformance begins to affect my own performance, it definitely becomes a concern for me. One girl in my office calls in about 40% of the time and the rest of us get stuck picking up her slack when we barely have time to keep up with our own duties. It's now everyone's concern and we're fed up with it, along with our leadership who does nothing about the problem. Office morale is at its lowest. It's hard not to feel bad when you work your a** off and the dead weight next to you does absolutely nothing, but still makes the same amount.

You are describing the exact reason why extreme socialism fails.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Radu

January 21, 2015

Sure venting on here is great but its not solving the bigger problem in the long run..

Maybe Mappers doesn't want to solve the problem.

January 21, 2015

Hey, she's been there forever. That comes with some rewards. I'm sure some people at my office think I come and go as I please, but they wouldn't understand why or what type of agreements I have with the boss. My guess is she's getting her job done or she wouldn't still be there 20 years later.

January 21, 2015

I see both of your points, however, I do think it can be the OP's concern if it is negatively affecting the work environment.

But we've learned a lot about chatty cathy over time!! She has been there forever, obviously a valued employee, NO ONE has any problems with her except for OP, we have suggested moving desks, turning her desk around (so OP doesn't literally READ whatever is on chatty cathy's screen!!) or even moving to the other building to work and none of this is even considered, just more obsession and dislike of chatty cathy. I don't know about anybody else but it's hard for me to be understanding of constant complaining about other people when there are so many options to rid yourself of contact with them!! or to try to get along and see the good!!

January 22, 2015

I wonder how good of a job you can be doing since you are timing her with exact precision all the workday! I don't feel sorry for you at all, who cares what this girl does? Why is it your problem, I don't get it?

I agree, nobody likes someone who micromanages and watches every move they make. If you have concerns, talk to your supervisor.

January 22, 2015

But we've learned a lot about chatty cathy over time!! She has been there forever, obviously a valued employee, NO ONE has any problems with her except for OP, we have suggested moving desks, turning her desk around (so OP doesn't literally READ whatever is on chatty cathy's screen!!) or even moving to the other building to work and none of this is even considered, just more obsession and dislike of chatty cathy. I don't know about anybody else but it's hard for me to be understanding of constant complaining about other people when there are so many options to rid yourself of contact with them!! or to try to get along and see the good!!

Um who said that NOBODY else has a problem with her?? Nobdy says anything to her face about having a problem but another coworker came out for my birthday last month and proceeded to tell me how she sits in the other room and can't concentrate half the time because Chatty is constantly yammering on and she can hear her out there! She also said how she just about lost it the first few weeks we started (we started on the same day)because she wasn't able to learn things quickly in our training sessions because Chatty wouldn't shut up and kept interrupting our trainer to repeat everything she said! You can't just say you want to move to the other building away from the rest of your department (that makes no sense!) and there's no room to move the desk around to face the other way because it's already so cramped in the living room area of the house where the 4 of us sit that if it got turned around you would not be able to get by with the desk configuration. Even my manager said to me a few months ago "I don't know how you concentrate sitting next to Chatty. I don't think I could do it." So she (my manager!) obviously knows how much she talks as well and doesn't discourage it! Like I said, NOBODY rats out anyone else! She comes across as a valued employee because everyone else thinks that the work she does is SO HARD and it takes a long time to do it because that is what she tells everyone at our weekly meetings. Yet she really spends half of everyday on the web or reading her book which is WHY it takes her so long to finish her work! We had da 2 hour meeting yesterday to discuss the upcoming year and the only thing Chatty contributed was repeating what another person had said or "Whatever, who cares. Lets move on to the next subject". She even asked before the meeting if she had to attend. Yup you are part of the dept, why wouldn't you have to attend?!

January 22, 2015

Um who said that NOBODY else has a problem with her?? Nobdy says anything to her face about having a problem but another coworker came out for my birthday last month and proceeded to tell me how she sits in the other room and can't concentrate half the time because Chatty is constantly yammering on and she can hear her out there! She also said how she just about lost it the first few weeks we started (we started on the same day)because she wasn't able to learn things quickly in our training sessions because Chatty wouldn't shut up and kept interrupting our trainer to repeat everything she said! You can't just say you want to move to the other building away from the rest of your department (that makes no sense!) and there's no room to move the desk around to face the other way because it's already so cramped in the living room area of the house where the 4 of us sit that if it got turned around you would not be able to get by with the desk configuration. Even my manager said to me a few months ago "I don't know how you concentrate sitting next to Chatty. I don't think I could do it." So she (my manager!) obviously knows how much she talks as well and doesn't discourage it! Like I said, NOBODY rats out anyone else! She comes across as a valued employee because everyone else thinks that the work she does is SO HARD and it takes a long time to do it because that is what she tells everyone at our weekly meetings. Yet she really spends half of everyday on the web or reading her book which is WHY it takes her so long to finish her work! We had da 2 hour meeting yesterday to discuss the upcoming year and the only thing Chatty contributed was repeating what another person had said or "Whatever, who cares. Lets move on to the next subject". She even asked before the meeting if she had to attend. Yup you are part of the dept, why wouldn't you have to attend?!

Have you spoken with a supervisor or someone in HR?

January 22, 2015

I've suggested it before, do like I do and get some headphones. Work with the radio on.

It will stop your distraction.

Either that or bite the bullet and go and see HR.

I have done that before in the past also when someone as online and not working.

You post when you are at work though so you had better be 'clean' if you go to HR. They can check.

The main thing is that you are able to control your reactions.

You need to either do something effective or control your reactions.

At the end of the day, you will be the one who suffers. Your body will be fraught with stress and in pain as a result if you don't do something.

January 22, 2015

Maybe Mappers doesn't want to solve the problem.

It clearly aggravates her she doesn't seam happy about the situation its even affecting her work why on earth would she not want to solve the problem or at the very least make it more bearable for her? Op have you actually tried telling this women how distracting her talking is?

I was once on a small transit bus and a women next to me was just about screaming a conversation out with the one behind me I took it as long as I could until I calmly but firmly turned to her in front of the entire bus and yelled back can you please stop screaming you have given me a migraine! she turned ghost white of embarrassment and shut up for most of the trip there after point is people can only torture us if we allow it..

Edited January 22, 2015 by TigerLilly78

January 22, 2015

I've suggested it before, do like I do and get some headphones. Work with the radio on.
It will stop your distraction.

Either that or bite the bullet and go and see HR.
I have done that before in the past also when someone as online and not working.

You post when you are at work though so you had better be 'clean' if you go to HR. They can check.

The main thing is that you are able to control your reactions.
You need to either do something effective or control your reactions.

At the end of the day, you will be the one who suffers. Your body will be fraught with stress and in pain as a result if you don't do something.

I agree. If she really is that distracting, see HR about your concerns. OP, You've been given some good advice, but aren't making any effort to resolve this issue.

January 22, 2015

I agree. If she really is that distracting, see HR about your concerns. OP, You've been given some good advice, but aren't making any effort to resolve this issue.

I don't want to rock the boat. I am quiet and shy and confronting her or HR about the problem is not something I'd do. I'd be scared to death to come into work and deal with the repercussions from her finding out I can't stand her. Hell, if someone had a gun to my head and was trying to kidnap me I'd probably be quiet as a mouse and not scream because I'd wonder "I don't want to disturb anyone even though I might die". Someone's bratty 4 year old was once hitting me and spitting on me and I just sat and smiled while he did that rather than tell him to stop and his parents sat there and watched him. Didn't want to rock the boat with anyone! I pretty much never want to hurt anyone's feelings. Just keeping all my anger internalized.

January 22, 2015

It clearly aggravates her she doesn't seam happy about the situation its even affecting her work why on earth would she not want to solve the problem or at the very least make it more bearable for her? Op have you actually tried telling this women how distracting her talking is?

I was once on a small transit bus and a women next to me was just about screaming a conversation out with the one behind me I took it as long as I could until I calmly but firmly turned to her in front of the entire bus and yelled back can you please stop screaming you have given me a migraine! she turned ghost white of embarrassment and shut up for most of the trip there after point is people can only torture us if we allow it..

That would be great if I could do something like that but I would NEVER tell anyone that--stranger or friend. I never let my real feelings come out.

January 22, 2015

I don't want to rock the boat. I am quiet and shy and confronting her or HR about the problem is not something I'd do. I'd be scared to death to come into work and deal with the repercussions from her finding out I can't stand her. Hell, if someone had a gun to my head and was trying to kidnap me I'd probably be quiet as a mouse and not scream because I'd wonder "I don't want to disturb anyone even though I might die". Someone's bratty 4 year old was once hitting me and spitting on me and I just sat and smiled while he did that rather than tell him to stop and his parents sat there and watched him. Didn't want to rock the boat with anyone! I pretty much never want to hurt anyone's feelings. Just keeping all my anger internalized.

Then I think we've identified the core of the problem. You're not angry at Chatty Kathy, you're angry at yourself for not doing anything.

Either you're justified in your case against CK or you're not justified. Decide which. If you are, then there should be no problem speaking to HR or a supervisor. If you're not, then get over this or leave. This is not about CK, this is about you. You have boundaries. Take responsibility for those boundaries.

The other alternative is to approach CK, either by yourself or with another person, privately and explain your feelings calmly and cooperatively. That would be a nice thing to do.

We can't control other people but we can control ourselves.

Sign In

Chatty took an hour long lunch break then proceeded to come back to her desk and eat!

Recommended Posts

Mapper71

Mapper71

aggie382

Rejected Rosebud

applej4

chumble

Anela

michellew

avintagegirl

Mapper71

Mapper71

TigerLilly78

Radu

Diezel

preraph

Rejected Rosebud

pink_sugar

Mapper71

pink_sugar

GemmaUK

TigerLilly78

pink_sugar

Mapper71

Mapper71

SycamoreCircle

What's New

My Activity Streams

More...