Writes our submitter in Sydney, Australia: “There’s one guy in our office who comes from a cultural background where a good hearty cough/hack/spit is de rigueur, and he brings that little bit of culture to the office with him. I find it amusing, but apparently not everyone feels the same way.”
But wait, there’s more! Within a few hours of spotting the first note in the office men’s room, our submitter noticed a second one had joined it.
Now if I only I could snap my fingers and get Mr. or Ms. Water-Cooler Wee-Wee transferred to this office…
related: What is up with the coughing?!
99 responses so far ↓
#1
Jessica
In what culture is hacking and spitting so deeply important?
Jun 20, 2011 at 9:55 pm rating: 73
#2
Mama Wrench
Yeah, not sure I could cough up the nerve to stand for that, either.
Jun 20, 2011 at 9:57 pm rating: 7
#3
Sandee
Oh, my. One wonders what culturally acceptable noises the original poster makes… in the BATHroom, for heaven’s sake.
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:00 pm rating: 32
#4
Seek
At the risk of sounding culturally ignorant and intolerant, in which culture is it socially acceptable and polite to hack a loogey in a public bathroom?
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:01 pm rating: 13
#5
liddy
maybe he/she feels the culture of the bathroom was violated by using paper products other than toilet paper and hand towels. Or perhaps the note poster is citing the culture of the bathroom that is supportive of all loud, obnoxious noises in general that make other people sick when heard (don’t make me explain that, you know what I am talking about).
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:02 pm rating: 1
#6
Team Beasly
I am just a white American gringo, but I got sneered at in the bathroom for a mucus-clearing session. I refuse to apologize. The bathroom is precisely the appropriate venue for the noisy and offensive expulsion of bodily waste products.
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:06 pm rating: 55
#7
Megan
So.. maybe I’m a bit naive but.. what does not wanting to hear spitting and throat noises have to do with being culturally intolerant?
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:06 pm rating: 15
#8
TickleMyBambo
I don’t see how hacking and coughing in a bathroom could be considered disturbing to the work environment. Now if the guy was doing it in the actual office with everyone around to hear and get sprayed with spit than sure, tell the guy that it’s disruptive and gross and to go hack somewhere else.. But why get on his case fors being considerate to his fellow employees by keeping his cultural lung hacking rituals limited to the bathroom. I can safetly say that his culture probably encourages covering of the mouth and washing of hands afterwards.
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:14 pm rating: 12
#9
Will Tingle
Erm… Is it not ‘culturally ignorant’ to move to a country / culture where something you deem ‘normal’ is thought of as disgusting, and yet continue to do it publicly?
Why is it always the existing members of a society who are expected to be sensitive to cultural differences, and never the incomers?
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:14 pm rating: 51
#10
lagne
In a previous office job, my office was directly across a narrow hallway from the mens’ room (joy). If you pay attention, you can figure out the offenders. When they go in, get up and close your office door momentarily. Or make that the moment when you run to the breakroom for some tea. Or plug in your iPod (or go buy one).
I absolutely cannot handle loogey noises – I had to clench my jaw very tightly just to read this note and comments, haha – but if not in the bathroom, then where?
If anyone has an idea, I’d also like to understand how this is a “culture” issue, ’cause I’m drawing a blank.
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:17 pm rating: 7
#11
BunnyGalore
At least the person is doing the gross noises in the bathroom and not in the office or lunchroom. That being said, there WAS a time when people came to this country and tried to fit in. Was that so bad?
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:19 pm rating: 10
#12
Sigh
In a lot of Asian countries the bathroom is where you deal with mucous. It’s better than having someone in the cubicle next to you hacking into tissues and throwing them into the bin. Now, that is disgusting.
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:22 pm rating: 8
#13
JetJackson
The note writer must be an expat living in Sydney and just doesn’t realise that it’s culturally acceptable here to get deep-throated in the office bathrooms.
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:28 pm rating: 2
#14
iSnotamachine
Until I had sinus surgery, I was doing the same. If I didn’t, I would literally choke on it. So, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. And I’m a (southern) lady!
PS I think he may be referring to a redneck culture.
Jun 20, 2011 at 10:32 pm rating: 2
#15
Lauren
Why is no one taking the obvious cheap shot and making jokes about loud deep throat noises?
Jun 20, 2011 at 11:11 pm rating: 3
#16
Canthz_B
If they’re coughing and hacking, they aren’t doing “Deep Throat” correctly, but practice makes perfect.
Jun 21, 2011 at 12:28 am rating: 2
#17
Buck
There are cultures where going to the bathroom outside is de rigeur because of lack of plumbing but I don’t think we want to encourage that behavior too. There is such a thing as taking “cultural sensitivity” a little too far.
Jun 21, 2011 at 2:17 am rating: 4
#18
Pam
Maybe it’s a girl thing, but I have never felt the need to hawk, hack or spit up mucus. Not sure where I’d go to do it if I did, but I’d probably try to pick someplace out of earshot & view of others. I never got the “cultural” behavior of guys who feel they are tough if they hawk up a big loogie and spit it in the street in front of you. Yuck!
Jun 21, 2011 at 2:48 am rating: 8
#19
Canthz_B
Please stop taking baths at work.
It makes me feel sick and is disturbing the work environment.
Say what? There are no bathtubs in there?
Never mind, damned lavatories!!
Jun 21, 2011 at 5:00 am rating: 1
#20
Slerte
It’s not necessary to make a lot of noise about it. It’s possible to clear your throat quite quietly if you try.
(I may have learned that from a past life as a smoker)
Jun 21, 2011 at 5:18 am rating: 1
#21
katie k
Team First Note all the way.
Jun 21, 2011 at 6:41 am rating: 4
#22
Nunavut Guy
You office dwellers sure have a lot of issues.
Jun 21, 2011 at 6:55 am rating: 8
#23
lettuce
Agreed that the bathroom is the only logical place to do this.
But it still can be annoying to the larger world, because most bathrooms aren’t soundproof.
A few years ago, my office was right across the hall from the men’s room. I worked in the computer science department at a large university, and we had a ton of people from Southeast Asia around. Thus, guys were *constantly* hacking up a spitwad in the bathroom, and thanks to the great acoustics, I heard every. Single. Last. One. It really was very gross and very distracting.
But I dealt with it by putting in earbuds, not putting up bitchy signs, obviously.
Jun 21, 2011 at 9:33 am rating: 7
#24
Grumpy "Manners" McGrumperson
Yanno, civilization tenuously exists through the tacit acceptance that certain things will be politely ignored. One such thing is bathroom noises.
If someone cannot accept or deal with the social conventions necessary to peaceful cubicle coexistence, one should perhaps consider moving to a shack in the woods somewhere, where the necessities of others are no longer an issue.
In other words, shut up and deal. My lord.
Jun 21, 2011 at 9:46 am rating: 9
#25
Meh
Funny how despite the notes being written by different people, they manage to be in the exact same font and font size. Just seems weird to me.
Jun 21, 2011 at 10:48 am rating: 2
#26
poffles
I personally HATE that noise. It literally makes me angry and although I know that’s quite an irrational reaction to a bodily function, I see it as unnecessary to be so loud about it. The bathroom is the correct place to do it, however as others have said before it’s quite easy to do it discreetly. Better yet, find out why you have an unusually high mucus build up and get it sorted. Offices aren’t always a winding labyrinth with the bathroom in a complete other realm of the office building; noise travels easily in tiled rooms and are likely to be heard by colleagues in the area, if it were me I’d be mortified if people could hear me doing that.
I also don’t understand the references to cultural intolerance. Being from another culture doesn’t give you the right to be gross.
Jun 21, 2011 at 3:26 pm rating: 9
#27
Turkey Vulture
It is super effing gross to hear somebody else hack up a gigantic lunger in your place of employment. And yes, bathrooms are often not soundproof. I think Original Note Writer has a good point. If this is going on all the time, it’s disruptive and icky. However, it’s happening IN THE BATHROOM, so what are you going to do? I think the best response from Note Writer #2 would have been, “Sorry, I can’t help it. Would you rather I did this at my desk?” instead of his jerky comeback about cultural insensitivity.
Jun 21, 2011 at 4:24 pm rating: 6
#28
berge
Note writer needs to stop working in the bathroom.
Jun 21, 2011 at 6:11 pm rating: 6
#29
Johanna
Wait. So, when I go into this room put into place to accomodate the semi-private excretion of bodily matter, I’m not supposed to make any of the noises accompanying said excretion? I mean, jeez–coughing/hacking/spitting is way less disgusting than someone loudly and malodorously defecating, yet no one but a real straight-up a-hole would post a sign in a restroom asking others to refrain from crapping.
Jun 22, 2011 at 11:54 pm rating: 1
#30
sarah
i live in seoul, south korea, and i hear this every day. it ranges from mildly offputting to once being so bad that, i was hungover, the noise was so repulsive that i actually vomited in my mouth. seriously. it is changing though, and it’s generally only really older people who do it. this is the absolute worst thing about the country, but i would hardly say this is ‘culture’, it’s just an accepted habit that thankfully is becoming less and less acceptable. nobody should have to hear that at work. i never do this and don’t walk around spending the day wishing i could cough up an 80 decibel loogie.
Jun 28, 2011 at 9:04 am rating: 1
#31
Nola
this is so gross -green face-
Jun 28, 2011 at 6:22 pm rating: 0
#32
Tim Drake
That is the most disgusting fucking thing ever. I hate when people do this and would start a campaign of hate if that was what needed to happen.
Intolerant and culturally ignorant because people need to stop fucking spitting in public areas? I think not.
Jun 30, 2011 at 6:39 pm rating: 1
#33
blart
“culturally ignorant?” what a dumbfuck.
Jul 1, 2011 at 2:56 pm rating: 1
#34
Maryann
This isn’t really about sensitivity to a cultural issue. It’s about sensitivity to a biological issue.
And the place where we all take care of daily biological issues is the bathroom. Would he rather the guy do this in the office while he’s trying to work?
Jul 18, 2011 at 10:28 am rating: 0
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