Cubicle Courtesies: The Responses

The Women in Business column "Cubicle Courtesies" elicited some very interesting responses.

Here is a sample of the comments, suggestions, and quite amazing stories.

I can still remember the Dilbert-esque atmosphere of the cubicles of my old job. The most annoying and repulsive cubicle offense in our room of seven cubicles was committed by one woman who would take off her shoes, walk around in bare or stockinged (smelly) feet and stand by our cubicles to talk (but scratching her underarms as well). Luckily we were on the other side of a higher cubicle wall from her, but the poor woman sitting across from her complained of her constantly staring at her over the cubicle. This woman's habits in themselves were repulsive, but she was the boss's favorite and could do no harm. If we (the other six people in the cubicled room) asked her politely to put her shoes back on, we would be reprimanded by our boss.

A near neighbor wears too much perfume and actually re-applies it in her cubicle. I have visited my husband and literally get sick from the smell, but even worse, my husband has perfume allergies and really suffers. So, I would add perfume abuse to your list.

I used to work in a cube with empty cubes on each side of me. A consultant was hired by my dept and was moved into a cube next to me. She would listen in on my phone conversations and then try to make conversation with me about whatever I had said to the person I had been speaking to on the phone. Not only did I consider it rude, it gave me the creeps!

Singing/talking to oneself/whistling sub(?) consciously

I worked for a company that had a second shift. The people who worked at night used our cubicles, but not as a place to work. They loaded video games on our computers and played away - until one of them got caught in the act. We then found that every computer in every cubicle had different "theme" games loaded on them! Our cubicles became play stations at night! It was gross to think about what else they were going there.

My pet peeve is people who take things from my cubicle without asking or without returning them, just because my cube is near an open area. I have to keep stapler, tape dispenser, pen, pencil and paper hidden in my drawer. And even with that they will interrupt me to ASK for them.

Body Odor! Day after day of body odor.

The man who resided in the cube next to me has to win top honors for the most obnoxious behavior. One particularly nervous day, he performed his entire collection of quirks in succession...

1) Loudly smacking, slurping, chomping, scarfing his lunch
2) Full-bellied belching after lunch.
2) The noisiest gum chewing, popping, cracking and schmacking, the likes of which I never imagined was possible for the human mouth to produce. (Visitors to my cube would give me "What the heck is THAT?!" looks. The sound capable of penetrating my Walkman-headset music shield.)
3) Chomping down on a large cup of ice.
4) Pacing his cube and, of course, dragging his feet on the carpet to make scraping sounds
5) An afternoon trip to the vending machine; see behavior #1 above.
6) Chit-chatting with his friends on the phone and using vulgar language
7) Repeatedly tapping a pen or pencil on his desk in obsessive/compulsive-style beats.

There is little enough privacy in a cubicle without people disrespecting those who work in one all the time. People just wander in and out looking for stuff, no apologies for interrupting, congregate outside the thin walls laughing and joking etc. ... my cubicle is my office and it is very hard to concentrate. Plus, if I am not there for a day people take stuff from my desk and I have to hunt endlessly for it or replace it to do my work.

You were right about the food. One of my cube neighbors eats stuff that smells so bad I have to leave or throw up! It takes a very long time for the smell to go away. And this happens often. I don't know how to tell this person, who is so nice otherwise, so I just suffer.

In addition to working hard, we actually have fun together in our cubes! If someone does something offensive we all gang up on that person, in a good natured way, and they stop. We look out for each other too. I guess I am lucky.

Copyright © 1998, 1999 by D.E. Summerville. All rights reserved.

The advice and suggestions in the Women in Business column are solely those of the author. DC Web Women assumes no responsibility for its content.

Back to Top