The Office LOL Police

January 18th, 2013 · 35 comments

As it turns out, at least one study has shown that laughter in the workplace can actually improve productivity.

Of course, that didn’t help our submitter in St. Louis from totally freaking out when she found this anonymous note on her desk at her “conservative” office, where she says that although silence pretty much reigns, “I giggle and talk loudly all the time.”

Our submitter later found out that the note was a “prank” from a friendly coworker. (But — paranoia alert — was it completely in jest, or a p-a power play?)

FILED UNDER: most popular notes of 2013 · noise · office · St. Louis

35 responses so far ↓

#1 fuzzbutt

I would be worried if I had to work on that old of PC screen!

Jan 18, 2013 at 2:21 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#2 Hillary

“I giggle and talk loudly all the time.” In an office environment? That’s not exactly professional.

Jan 18, 2013 at 2:21 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#3 Cake

This is a note that my loud and outgoing, English as a second language, thickly accented, lovely mother needs. So so so much.

>.> I’m going to…borrow this.

Jan 18, 2013 at 2:24 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#4 Rowan

One just as easily argue that the “concerned neighbor” might not be getting work done because they’re busy typing up and leaving anonymous notes…

Jan 18, 2013 at 2:30 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
- #4.1 Tesselara
  
  Mmm, that soul killing job was fucking delicious.
  
  Jan 20, 2013 at 10:24 am rating: 90
add to this thread
#5 Jenn50

Giggling and talking loudly all the time? Team Notewriter.

Jan 18, 2013 at 2:30 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
- #5.1 makfan
  
  I am all for people who are fun and have a sense of humor, but in an office environment where the expectation is quiet, one needs to learn to keep it down.
  
  We wouldn’t tolerate people having meetings in cubicles using speaker phone, or having long personal conversations where everyone can hear. This is much the same.
  
  I have a real hard time concentrating in noisy environments and my job involves a lot of thinking.
  
  Jan 18, 2013 at 7:06 pm rating: 90
add to this thread
#6 Gagdonor

My guess it the submitter is one of those loud and obnoxious, gossipy types with a earsplitting shriek laugh. Also, the author probably can’t get any work done due to the constant distractions, but told our submitter it was joke, just to avoid hurt feelings.

Jan 18, 2013 at 2:49 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#7 bmack

I sit next to this person (or her clone) – I spend ALL DAY muttering “shut up, shut up, shut up” under my breath at her.

Jan 18, 2013 at 3:11 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#8 Escapist83

Sounds like Jaya needs to shut the hell up. I hate people who have absolutely zero personal awareness. It’s incredibly obnoxious to giggle and laugh loudly enough for people to hear in a silent office.

Jan 18, 2013 at 3:52 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
- #8.1 Vega
  
  No, no. She demonstrates her personal awareness by admitting that she “giggles and talks loudly all the time.” Hence, she’s aware of the problem.
  
  The fact that she doesn’t see a need to correct this behavior indicates that she’s a self-important asshole. Team Grow Up, Snowflake!
  
  Jan 19, 2013 at 11:54 pm rating: 90
add to this thread
#9 Mel

You know that old ‘when in Rome’ saying? If the office culture is quiet, there’s a good chance that’s because your coworkers like it that way. I had a coworker for awhile who just never shut up – just hour after hour of stream-of-consciousness aimed at whoever was (or wasn’t) listening. The worst part was that we all wore headphones, because we were doing detailed work with sound files. And she talked loudly enough to be heard over that. Team freakin’ notewriter. If you must keep a running commentary of your day, get a damn Twitter account.

Jan 18, 2013 at 3:58 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#10 blah mcblah

i take umbrage to the use of a cursive font.

Jan 18, 2013 at 5:22 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#11 Elisha

On side of notewriter. Constant noise coming from someone in a quiet office is AWFUL!

Jan 18, 2013 at 6:46 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#12 depro

There is no such thing as a quiet cubicle farm. You can hear the dust bunnies run across the prairie, so the notion that you can hear someone located NEXT TO YOU is an unavoidable reality. And if your job is so serious that there is no laughter in your office, your next note will be one that explains your murder/suicide decision. Team Old, Crappy, Mummy Dust Under the Keyboard Having Co-Worker.

Jan 18, 2013 at 8:43 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
- #12.1 Mel
  
  There’s a lot of space between “no laughter” and “I giggle and talk loudly all the time.” Every office I’ve been in has had its own balance – you come across something your coworkers will find funny, or something they should know? Share it! Everyone’ll take a 5-min. break to laugh along and talk it over, and yay, office camaraderie. You laugh and comment aloud on every single aspect of your day? No. People around you are trying to work, STFU.
  
  Jan 19, 2013 at 10:03 am rating: 90
add to this thread
#13 Neeners

No loud talking and giggling all day….just silently seethe and back stab like the rest of us in the office!

Jan 19, 2013 at 1:25 am rating: 90

reply to this comment
#14 KD

After reading the comments, I am eternally grateful I do not have to work in such a hate filled environment such as a “professional office.”

Jan 19, 2013 at 7:59 am rating: 90

reply to this comment
- #14.1 Lam
  
  Please don’t. By your reply, it sounds as though you aren’t a good fit. Go get a job where you can talk loudly and giggle all day as part of the job, and we will all be happier for it.
  
  Jan 19, 2013 at 12:38 pm rating: 90
- #14.2 Rattus
  
  You really are lucky. I work in a “professional office” and I cry pretty much every morning before I leave for work.
  
  Jan 19, 2013 at 2:05 pm rating: 90
- #14.3 Escapist83
  
  Peaceful, quiet, and professional now means “hate filled”. Huh, who knew..
  
  Jan 20, 2013 at 2:52 pm rating: 90
- #14.4 The Elf
  
  Part of the problem is that “office environment” these days usually means “cube farm”. The cubicle is a terrible, terrible thing, especially when used in large numbers over an open floor to form a “cube farm”. It is inevitable that you will hear your cube neighbors. That’s fine, except when you also hear their cube neighbors. And the neighbor’s neighbor’s neighbors. You can hear a loud talker and a giggler across the entire floor! So how many loud talkers and gigglers can you have before you can’t concentrate due to the noise? Oh, and it’s really bad when the loud talker is going on about a medical problem or a personal problem, or the giggler finds something funny at least once every 15 minutes. “Hate-filled” doesn’t even begin to cover it after a while.
  
  (And this is why, after a decade of working in a cube farm, I wear headphones pretty much all the time. If someone’s going to be screaming in my ear, I’d prefer it to be Ronnie James Dio.)
  
  If these same workers were in offices, even shared offices, you would not have this problem.
  
  Jan 22, 2013 at 7:14 am rating: 90
- #14.5 Macca
  
  If only I was allowed to wear headphones! Music gets me in a working groove but my boss insists on being able to interrupt my work to chew on my ear at a second’s notice, dozens of times a day. Mostly to tell me he sent me an email about something completely unimportant – and to boot, reading the contents of the email aloud to me right there.
  
  Why? Whyyyyy?
  
  Jan 22, 2013 at 10:22 am rating: 90
- #14.6 redheadwglasses
  
  Sigh. I feel your pain, Macca. We have some of those “spell every thing out even though you could read it yourself” people. THey’re the same people who, if you’re unlucky enough to be in the lunchroom at the same time they are, will read “interesting” stories from the newspaper aloud to the room throughout lunch.
  
  Which is why I eat at my desk.
  
  Jan 22, 2013 at 12:54 pm rating: 90
add to this thread
#15 Macca

I like how she ” totally freak[ed] out when she found this anonymous note on her desk”. What is there to freak out about? Sounds like a drama queen here, which falls right in line with someone with a loud mouth and no sense of how she affects others with her noise. I don’t think I would be a fan of working with her either. Too bad the notewriter didn’t have the guts to tell her straight when asked about it though.

Jan 19, 2013 at 12:42 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#16 nunavut guy

What is the suicide rate at cubicle farms?

Jan 19, 2013 at 2:37 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
- #16.1 The Elf
  
  Not high enough.
  
  Jan 22, 2013 at 7:15 am rating: 90
add to this thread
#17 Angela

I work in a professional office and it’s quite often quiet as we are busy working on daily tasks. On occasion you hear someone laughing loudly or having a loud conversation. Not often, just once in awhile. The one thing I have learned is that some people are just naturally loud and it comes with the territory of working with different people. However, those people usually are aware of it and make an effort not to disrupt the natural environment of the office. I think that since she freaked out before finding out it was a prank indicates that she is fully aware of her loudness but has never made a conscious effort to at least keep it in check on occasion.

Also, if you are crying before going to work then it’s time to go on a job hunt. Work isn’t always going to be pleasant but if it’s reducing you to tears you definitely don’t need to be there.

Jan 19, 2013 at 9:23 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#18 Jami

Okay, on the one hand, I am often said to be a “loud” person. Not really, my voice just projects well due to taking singing lessons for years. It’s amazing how proper enunciation and speaking “from the belly” rather than the chest will make you sound.

So in reality, I’m speaking at a normal level. It just seems loud cause I don’t mumble.

On the other hand – as the daughter of a woman who never shuts up, even when I politely ask her to be quiet so I can concentrate, even when I have headphones on, even when I tell her I’d rather read than talk – TEAM NOTEWRITER!

Some people need to learn to shut up.

Jan 20, 2013 at 3:15 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
- #18.1 Frank
  
  If your voice “projects,” it’s because you’re loud. Please stop yelling at everyone – it may be normal for you, but it’s not “normal”.
  
  Jan 20, 2013 at 8:53 pm rating: 90
- #18.2 splint
  
  so much humblebrag
  
  Jan 22, 2013 at 8:48 am rating: 90
add to this thread
#19 Sir Puke

An anonymous note at an office job can be a sign of a soul killing environment.
This was a joke and doesn’t count.

Jan 20, 2013 at 8:47 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
- #19.1 Neeners
  
  Most office jobs are soul killing in my experience
  
  Jan 21, 2013 at 9:18 pm rating: 90
add to this thread
#20 Ms.Pepper

I think it’s just a good prank among friends and that’s it..not necessary to bad mouth the submitter and I am pretty sure the person would have been fired if it was all the time! I personally like some laughter and fun at work. Besides who knows the note writer is probably in reality a jealous person and cant stand others having fun at work.

Jan 22, 2013 at 1:00 pm rating: 90

reply to this comment
#21 foxymoron

Let me break it down for you:

SHUT UP.

Jan 29, 2013 at 9:37 am rating: 90

reply to this comment