New fence, old grass

I don’t know what I was thinking – perhaps that I would swap my old grass for something greener on the other side of the fence? Why is it that people are forever falling for that old adage? While I am loving the new work digs for more reasons than not, today was the first day that I thought the honeymoon must be over… I am now, more than ever before, working in a typical cube farm. Literally my building has 4 floors and with the exception of the squatters from a different company on one of them they ALL LOOK THE SAME with cubicles as far as the eye can seen. The bathrooms are in the same place on every floor, the cubicles are all the same size, shape, color and layout on every floor and even the filing cabinets are in the same place on every floor. Several times I’ve gotten lost and wondered if I was going to have to go back to the elevator (if I could find it) to see what floor I was on and get my bearings. (I don’t know what I’ll do when the holiday decorations come down in my dept because that’s the only way I know which cube is mine – first with the Halloween spiderwebs and now the Christmas tinsel to distinguish it from all the rest!) Today the thing that has irritated me the very most for the very longest time happened in the hallowed new environment like a bad acid trip returning…. The hallway meeting of inconsiderate coworkers! You know what I’m talking about, don’t deny it (maybe you are one who does this!) Two people (or if you’re on a lucky streak more of them!) stop right in the middle of the hallway on the other side of your cubicle partition – it is wrong to call it a wall since it doesn’t even drown out the muffled sound of a cell phone vibrating from two cubes over let alone the mindless banter of the testers in the next row – and decide to have a meeting! One or more of them usually has a puffed up chest and loud, irritatingly obnoxious voice to go with it because subconsciously they know they are being listened to by a captive audience of at least 15 within earshot who have nowhere to go to escape but the shitters – and even then it probably won’t drown out the noise. They talk loudly and at length about things more appropriately discussed in private – or sometimes even outside the work environment! – and never think once about the people they are disrupting with their incessant chatter! (I think I.T. people are the worst at this but it could also be just that it is what I know…) I was the lucky recipient of two of these lovely “meetings” right outside my cube today and I swear I almost stood and yelled at the top of my lungs – SHUT THE FUCK UP OR GET A ROOM!! People, be considerate that there might be folks working all around you before stopping for a “quick” chat… because trust me, there’s nothing quick about the chatter of your bullshit when having to be endured by someone trying to work!