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Just wanna vent a little.. So, I'm a web designer for a vacation company. The reservations department is right on the other side of my cube. The bosses of said dept saw fit to place the loudest people as far from the other reservationists as possible, because they're so loud that other customers can hear them on other calls. Sounds like a great plan, but that means they're all right next to me. The most annoying is the guy I share a cube wall with, he sounds like Harvey Firestein. Seriously, lay off the booze and cigarettes. I basically can't get my work done without blasting head banging noise into my ears with my headphones, they're my only salvation. and my boss said it is what it is, because our office is so crowded there's really no where else for me to move to.

So today, I'm tired and cranky, everyone around me is using their outside voices inside, and and speakerphones, and to top that off I woke up with a scorching case of the runs. All I need is a screaming baby next to me and my day will be complete.

Am I just cursed? Anyone else stuck with people who just talk way too loud?

Bring an airhorn into work. Every time his voice goes to "outside mode" blast the thing, then sprits him with a spray bottle full of water.

You have to start training them early.

I know someone whose normal talking voice is ridiculously loud.
Seriously dislike hanging out with him because of it.

Use the two bob bits to your advantage, and offer to get him a cup of coffee and do what you gotta do into the cup.

If the coffee you guys have is anything like the stuff i've tasted, he shouldn't be any the wiser.

I'm going to suggest something pretty radical here. You may not like it, and it's going to be something that is tough to pull off. Not a lot of people try this, they usually resort to cheap pranks, complaining to the boss or faceless mooks on the internet, or simply turning up the volume on their headsets to avoid the problem.

Anyway, if you think you're man enough...here goes...

Talk to him.

I know, right? Crazy.

Im confused.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Sorry for the above post..mobile with no edit. I meant that you should just talk to him.

I agree with karon, what's the worst that can happen? Tell them to tone it down, if that doesn't work, then tell them you're serious, if that doesn't work, tell your boss.

biccat wrote:I'm going to suggest something pretty radical here. You may not like it, and it's going to be something that is tough to pull off. Not a lot of people try this, they usually resort to cheap pranks, complaining to the boss or faceless mooks on the internet, or simply turning up the volume on their headsets to avoid the problem.

Anyway, if you think you're man enough...here goes...

Talk to him.

I know, right? Crazy.

Despite how "crazy" this idea sounds.( ) , I fully agree with biccat..
...Talk to the guy, make him aware of the issues you have with his volume...easy enough .

biccat wrote:I'm going to suggest something pretty radical here. You may not like it, and it's going to be something that is tough to pull off. Not a lot of people try this, they usually resort to cheap pranks, complaining to the boss or faceless mooks on the internet, or simply turning up the volume on their headsets to avoid the problem.

Anyway, if you think you're man enough...here goes...

Talk to him.

I know, right? Crazy.

What?

One on one human interaction? Heresy!

I have sympathy.

Thankfully, we got shot of the mardy south african nightmare on Friday. Nice, quiet office now. No more struggling to hear a policy holder. No more having concertration broken by her bellowing.

Absolute bliss!

I've spoken to him.. he's not a bad guy, he's just loud. all he could say was "sorry I can't help it, I just have a loud voice". It's not just him, it's him on top of the cacophony of everyone else in the dept. I just got the suckiest seat in the office. I tink they all just progressively get louder the busier we get, since they have to talk over everyone else being loud. Wish I was allowed to work from home

He's going away on a company paid free trip to sunny India in a week or so... can't wait

Reading the thread title, I thought this would be about you hearing voices inside your head. Thankfully it isn't.
Anyway, whenever they start to talk loudly, just talk louder. The one thing loud voiced people hate is people with louder voices.

Is he talking about stuff that's actually business related?

I could let it slide if he's talking about things related to work, but if he's annoying the entire office by yammering about Glee at the top of his lungs I'd say you're well within your rights to complain.

I've got a very deep, loud voice. I have since about seventh grade. My teachers used to tell me that I should be a news anchor. I speak at a conversational level and the guy four cubes down from me sends me a IM or email answer the question I just asked the person right next to me. It's a lot of fun when I'm angry enough to yell.

Having that been said, you should talk to them. If they're anything like me, they don't do it intentionally, and probably forget they're even doing it, as it's just what seems natural. I'm always happy to oblige them, I just forget that their conversation is my whisper.

I get louder the more excited I get.

In my sales office I would often be told to sush when I was making a sale. I also have to stand up and move around when I am on the phone, so thank god for company mobiles and high end cordless telephone head sets.

Go get those headsets that play soothing water drops and enya, you know the ones made to help you sleep? That would work, and chill ya out a bit. Or if falling asleep on the job is your problem, then get those noise cancelling headsets you can get for mowing your lawn? Ive heard those work rather well

So OP, why haven't you gone to HR yet?

It's a small company, there is no HR

The headphones I have are pretty nice though, they're motorola bluetooth headphones. I have all my music uploaded to my Google Music account that's synced to my iTunes at home.

I can't really make a valid complaint because the loud people are actually making money for the company. They rarely talk amongst themsevles because they're always on the phone talking to old people about their trips to croatia and thailand.

For the time being, i'm stuck in my own little hell cube. I let the powers that be know that I was unhappy, but there's little that can be done so I just gotta suck it up for now. I'd love it if they could just move me to the basement like the stapler guy in Office Space.

I felt bad for stapler man...D;

Well, if you aren't willing to be a dick to the loud guy, then you are stuck with your problem.

I'm a teacher, so yeah, I come across the loudness thing in co-workers all the time. Our team room is friggin' tiny, and there's 15 of us crammed in there at break. You got 5 or 6 of the (female) staff who are trying to talk over one and other, the techs having a conversation quietly in the corner, and the rest of us sitting there zoned out because you can't get a word in edgeways.

I mean, it's not the end of the world, but it is annoying. They're all nice enough people too, just not enough space and a high stress job doesn't go well with people who like to talk and be heard.