October 2, 2012

Losing it


The lady who works in the space behind me makes me want to gouge my eyeballs out with forks. But then I’d be blind and knowing Murphy, I’d still be forced to somehow work here. So rather than going blind, she makes me want to stick fire pokers in my ears. It's her voice. It annoys the ever lovin' piss outta me with its shrill that reminds me of cats in heat. It wouldn’t be so bad to deal with except she's on the phone with her husband several times a day using terms like “Buddy” and “Golly” and “Good boy” as if he was a dog. It drives me fucking insane. 
 
Insane.
 
I've tried leaving my work space when she gets on the phone with "Buddy," but then how could I look busy at work? 
 
I've tried playing the radio to help drown out her sounds, but because of the generally quiet work environment I can't keep the radio at a level loud enough to do so. (Wouldn't want to disturb daydreaming to the lulling whoosh of air pushing through the ceiling vents or fingers tap dancing across their keyboards. Wouldn't want to disturb eavesdropping on coworkers talking about the football game. Wouldn't want to disturb snapping back to reality when a phone rings or the nearby printer whirs and spits out someones work.) 
 
So I endure the shrill. 
 
I endure pet names and one million Mmm-hmm’s.
 
I endure it all because of a haunting image: 
I sneak up behind her, take the curly black cord attached to the phone she talks into and wrap it around her neck. Over and over and over again. The curls of the cord embed into her neck. She starts to gasp for air. A muffled "Hello!" seeps from the ear piece of the phone. Her arms and hands reach for me… flail for anything… but only find their way onto her neck where I pull even harder at the cord. Blood seeps from the curls of the cord tattooed into her neck now, and a smile emerges onto my face.
Golly gee, Buddy. Does this hurt? Does it hurt the way my ears hurt every fucking day I have to listen to you?!  
 
Between her and an old boss from an old job who’d clip his fucking nails at the desk next to me when he wasn’t chewing his food with his mouth open, it’s no wonder I haven’t lost my marbles quite yet at the workplace.
 
Or have I?


Muahahaha welcome to October at Finally Mom’s.



 

26 comments:

  1. I know exactly what you mean. There's this woman at the gym that talks constantly. Work the hell out, B$%CH! And its the pitch that drives me utterly INSANE. Every time she speaks, my friends look at me to see what I'll do or say! And the toe nail clipping. GROSS!!! If you need a hand with her, hit me up!

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  2. You have no idea how much I´m with ya!
    My "fav" colleague is babbling all.the.time, he speaks "laughing", it´s bullshit and the sheer sound of his voice makes me want to kill him. Every day. I know no woman that speaks as many words as he does.

    Years ago I had an elderly colleague. She ate non stop. Loud stuff like raw carrots, raw whatever healthy or a lollipop. Unless she was on the phone, hmmm-hm... hmmm-hm...
    And her colleague was like hmm... WHAT?!!!! hmm... WHAT?!!!!
    Try to concentrate instead of forming thoughts about... well.

    I want a single office, really!!

    We´re not alone, mate ;-)

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  3. Ha ha! It feels good to live out that fantasy, even if it's only in your head, doesn't it?

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  4. I'm totally feeling you.

    I had a co-worker who used to blow off every idea I had for change on our website.

    I don't own a gun, but each time he'd say something to me in a management meeting, I could smile as long as I was fantasizing his brains hitting the wall behind him in a hail of bullets.

    He still thinks I'm the friendliest co-worker around, but has no idea he's died 234,587 times in my head.


    Whatever gets you through the day! :)

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  5. Yes, this is familiar. I used to imagine that I had telekinesis during board presentations when we got to the interminable "people ask me stupid questions that I already answered" part of the day. I sent all kinds of things flying at their heads. I always felt better after that.

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  6. Haha! That's one spooky photo of you. Glad you got your revenge, at least in your head!

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  7. Oh that is an AWESOME image. I used to work with this woman who had what I called a horsey laugh. And I'm not the sort to mock people. But holy shit she drove me crazy. And everyone. Because she worked a football field away from me in an open warehouse and I could still HEAR HER LAUGH. God. AND I've been playing with pic monkey's vampire toy, and I haven't gotten anything like as good as that. That picture gets extra bonus points.

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  8. (sing-songy voice) You're going to be Dooced!

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  9. Oh. Oh, my.

    Sounds painful. I think you need to find a way to get moved to a different spot... This doesn't sound like it will end well.

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  10. Creepy! Way to get into the halloween yeahwrite spirit! Since it was a week early, I did not see it coming.

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  11. Wow. I didn't see that ending coming. I laughed out loud at the beginning. Great. "I endure pet names and one million Mmm-hmm’s." Love it.

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  12. oh my!!! you scared me and yet, totally justified. :)

    i'm kind of interested in what susannah said, tripped my shit??? what is this?? i am old, that's it, right?

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  13. Oh my goodness. Some people just make it soooo challenging to stay sane. Love this intro to October :)

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  14. Are you for hire? I just spent 5 days sharing a hotel room with a co-worker who set her alarm for 4:30 when our conference didn't start until 8:30..and it was an elevator ride away.

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  15. Sadly,I think I am the co-worker who used to be that annoying voice.I am super loud and laughy and it had to be so freaking annoying. This was hilarious and love the new pic!

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  16. Ha! I wonder if she knows about your blog! Love this post and the photo!

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  17. This post is perfect for this month! Loved it. I could just hear her voice...

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  18. Oh, the strangling a co-worker fantasy... A long time ago, I had a co-worker that made me crazy. I used to send myself fake memos cursing her out.

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  19. First of all, I love your makeup in that photo. Did you do it yourself? It looks fabulous.

    Second, thanks for totally creeping me out with the image of you murdering your coworker. Not that she didn't deserve it.

    Great post, scary lady.

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  20. I loved this from the first line. And thank you for making me feel like less of a bitch when I have such frustrations. This was honest, haunting, and awesome. But ... I never want to piss you off.

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  21. i think you just described the office that i work at... in fact it was SO quiet and co-workers complained because when people walk through the hall, the noise "distracts" them. yup. that's right. so they pump in air through the vents as "white noise". man oh man. it's tough to make it through without snapping.

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  22. I haven't the words for how much I loved this. I sit at my desk seething because of the incessant blathering of some of my idiot coworkers and it takes all my strength to not start screaming. I so, SO get this. Great post!!

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  23. Hahahaha! Oh my gosh! A-mazing. I am making my husband read this as soon as I get done typing this. He works with two of the most annoying women on the planet!

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