Snapping Gum

[mtbdarby]

After I read this I spit my gum out

I always snap my gum when I have it, it's almost an unconscience nervous thing I do like pick at my fingernails. But my jaws get tired quick and I spit it out. If she's like me and you've only mentioned it once she's probably forgetting it because she's concentrating on work and doing it unconsciencously. I'd try Tuckerville's suggestion so she thinks of it.

Then throw a cushball/stressball at her if she forgets Good luck!

[li10up]

Thanks for the suggestions. The intraoffice dynamics here are very strained. Half of the people are at war with at least one other person. People here are quite the backstabbers/gossipers. That's why I've always kept my distance...too much drama. But that just seems to have put me in the catagory of "outsider". I'm one of only 3 supervisors and I think I have the reputation of being the hard@$$. That's why I don't want to strain the one decent relationship I have. Oh well...chalk one more up for me in the b*tch column. It's kind of funny though....I'm not "friends" with anyone yet I have a good "working" relationship with all of them. Ugh!

[lauraelmore1033]

Gum snapping is a guilty pleasure of mine which I only indulge in when I am alone--but sometimes I forget to stop when I am not alone. Even so, it drives me crazy when other people do it and I do not hesitate to spit out the gum when someone calls attention to it. I think you would have to be totally clueless or a little hostile to continue snapping away when someone has said something.

[li10up]

Here we go again. Another office mate has been popping her gum for the last couple of weeks too. It's like they alternate days. I just went to the other one and said, "I don't want to be rude but I can hear your gum popping all the way down the hall. Is there any way you can stop?" She told me that she has quit smoking (that was like a year ago) and is trying to lose weight so she basically needs to pop her gum - it relaxes her. She told me to just close her door. I can still hear her though!

What is the world coming to when we don't even have common courtesy anymore? My parents taught me to not snap my gum when I was 4!

What are you supposed to do when you politely ask someone to stop doing something that is impolite but they don't care and keep on doing it?

I don't think the suggestions given here previously will work. I told the boss that I said something to the both of them but he just got a panicked look on his face - like he was afraid I was going to ask him to do something about it - he doesn't like confrontation at all.

I know others don't like it but everyone is afraid to say anything.

I'm starting to hate this place!

[Velobambina]

LOL--I hate loud/popping gum chewers. Audible breathers also can be annoying.

A couple years ago, I didn't have a private office and a nasty-girl's cube abutted mine. This was the 30 year old who wore low-rider slacks with no undies and would bend over sex-kitten style. It was not pretty. She hated other white females--saw us all as her "competition" for male attention (in my opinion, the minority ladies were prettier than the group of white women in that office but she didn't see them as a threat to her being the Alpha). I guess that's besides the point but you get where I'm going here.

Anyway, she used to talk on the phone incessantly (personal calls--really loud voice to get attention) and would play Sarah McLaughlin "I Believe" over and over again. I no longer can stand Sarah's music. It was that bad. Here's my solution: I brought in a WHITE NOISE machine and played it. I didn't have to listen to her insipid phone conversations or her endless "I Believe" loop. It was like an electric Zen machine. It didn't interfere w/the work place, either.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I rode the train into NYC this weekend for the first time in a couple of years.
I commented to DH on all the people chewing gum. Thankfully, they were not popping or snapping their gum. BUT....half of them were chewing it with their mouths open all the time. HOW GROSS IS THAT!???!

Even the women were chewing gum with their mouths open, like a bunch of cows working on their cud. Do they know how much it makes them look like morons??

GROSS.

[michelem]

Lisa S.H. -

Want to hear something even worse? When riding BART back from the US Half Marathon, a woman wearing an "I Don't Suffer From Insanity, I Enjoy Every Minute of It" t-shirt and her boyfriend/husband/whatever got on the train. They sat down across the aisle from us, and suddenly I began to hear this DISGUSTING slurping noise. I made the mistake of looking over at them - he was SUCKING ON HER TOES!!! GAG!!!

SO GROSS!!!

[northstar]

Lisa S.H. -

Want to hear something even worse? When riding BART back from the US Half Marathon, a woman wearing an "I Don't Suffer From Insanity, I Enjoy Every Minute of It" t-shirt and her boyfriend/husband/whatever got on the train. They sat down across the aisle from us, and suddenly I began to hear this DISGUSTING slurping noise. I made the mistake of looking over at them - he was SUCKING ON HER TOES!!! GAG!!!

SO GROSS!!!

(gagging while reading this...)

[li10up]

I guess the thing is I don't feel like I should have to change my behavior; I'm not the one being rude. I have to answer the phone frequently so I don't want to have to mess with earphones. I'm the type that can't even play the radio quietly in my own office - it distracts me. The white noise thing might work but then everyone who comes into my office will think me crazy. I could close the door but that seems rude to me, and stuffy, and I don't have any windows in my office - plus I just don't want to have to close my door. I also don't want my staff to feel like I'm shutting them out.

It just blows my mind that when politely asked to quit something that society in general deems rude, the person just doesn't care and will not stop...their wants over the rest of others. A woman in her mid 40s with no manners.

This is the workplace for Pete's sake - all I'm asking for is a little common courtesy. I don't want to do anything rude to make a point or try to annoy her - that would just be stooping to her level. Uggggh.

What do you think about sending an IM to her AND the boss asking her to quit? Or is that just asking for trouble and putting the boss in a bad spot?

[Dianyla]

They sat down across the aisle from us, and suddenly I began to hear this DISGUSTING slurping noise. I made the mistake of looking over at them - he was SUCKING ON HER TOES!!! GAG!!!

SO GROSS!!!

Oh, yeah... I believe that's called shrimping.

*shrug* Whatever floats their shrimpboats, I guess.

[michelem]

It appears as though she is not going to change, so you are going to have to change instead. Sucks, huh? How about ear plugs or noise-cancelling headphones? I'd certainly see about having my company purchase or reimburse me for these items, as they are necessary for you to be able to perform your job.

Maybe something like this (one of my co-workers at my previous office used these and loved them)? http://www.bose.com/controller?event...noisy.jsp&ck=0

Oh, look, they even have designer earplugs (tee hee!): http://earplugs.ecrater.com/

Good luck to you. I feel for you.

[mimitabby]

I probably chew gum too loudly but i don't do it at work. I usually do it in the car alone because DH doesn't like it either.

signed
loud gum chewers anonymous member.

ps when i was a teenager, my stepmother could POP her gum astonishingly loud. And I could never learn to do it.

[Starfish]

I am personally not a fan of the humor method...I would much rather have someone be direct with me. I don't equate communication with confrontation.

But, if there is a lot of drama there, and people tend to have the low self images that often go with that, what about a little self-deprecating remark to help diffuse her defensiveness?

"You know, I realize I might be a little anal to be this bothered by your gum...but for whatever reason, I am, and I would be really grateful if you would chew just a little more quietly, as a favor to me?"

I happen to have extremely sensitive hearing, and I am anal enough that I let stuff get to me. So, I have both an iPod and a "natural sounds" machine in my office. If I just reset my mental focus, and then listen to something I like, normally the sounds of others recede (out of my zone-of-irritation, if not actually out of my earshot).

Good luck!!