Nor do I, until l don’t get it any more.
My real beef is people who try to butt in when I’m using the photocopier. No latitude here - this is the mother ans father of unitary phenomena, a situation about as monolithic interpretation-wise as it gets. Wait!
Mine’s urgent too…I’ll let you know when I’m done…Now sit the f*** down.
Okay, your point is well-taken. And I wish to say that I really appreciate your comments, , **js_africansnus ** but can’t you eventually get to hear what she has to say after a certain amount of give and take? Do you really think a dinner party conversation should resemble a formal, political debate?
Yes, in theory it seems nice if a person can say what they want to say, in the exact order they want to say it, and then wait for a response. (As on the floor of the US Senate.) On the other hand, when another person interjects (and that is not the same as an interruption), it can widen, expand, and clarify ideas not only more quickly but also more succinctly.
I personally think this is the very beauty of spoken languge. You might even eventually get to hear completely what your interlocutotor means to say if you stay for the whole dinner party. I certainly don’t mean to say that you are not the kind of person who would not stay for the whole dinner party, but I acutally am, because I get shy, and and feel that no one wants to talk to me anyway.
You know js_africansusu, and I would really like to continue discussion with you. I don’t even know where you live, but I’m in Cali (NO!, not Cali, Colomibia-though it’s a wonderful city–but CA, USA). You are a very perceptive person. Right now, I can bearlry stay awake, let alone spell correctly.
I will send you my email and hope youe respond. You are a very interesting coorespondant.
Quizot
The perils of multiple negatives. I too struggled to understand the intended meaning.
Well, on some narrow subject, sure, but a conversation ebbs and flows as well. One doesn’t have to have to have an ordered (for lack of a better word) conversation, but that doesn’t mean one can’t, either.
If you’ve already sent it, then I’ve accidently deleted it.
Yes, because I have tremendous psychic powers, so I know that I am disrupting your concentration by my mere presence within ten feet of you without your so much as having cast a glance in my direction.
You actually consider it polite to come barging up to someone who is in the middle of performing some task and say “Excuse me” (but whatever you’re doing couldn’t possibly be as important as what I have to say to you, so drop what you’re doing this very instant and PAY ATTENTION TO ME, DAMMIT)?
Actually, I work in a setting where entering the room I’m working in for any reason other than to tell me that the building is on fire and I should help my client get dressed and out of the building would be considered not only rude, but extremely unprofessional. I’m a massage therapist, which is a profession which requires a certain amount of consideration for other people.
But in the past, I have worked in a factory and a warehouse, where yes, it would be reasonable to expect that it would only take a minute or two to finish that small handful of wires you’re soldering, or that trumpet you’re checking for defects before shipping. If someone approached my workspace in this setting, I would at the very least look up and make eye contact to see what they wanted.
No, you’re the one being passive-aggressive here. Refusing to acknowledge someone’s presence because they have committed the crime of being withing ten feet of you, thereby “interrupting” you, what, you consider that polite? You can’t just glance up and say, “Can you come back in twenty minutes or so, this is going to take a while?”
Do the working world at large a favor, if you ever find yourself considering a job opening at any company that requires people to treat each other with respect (admittedly few and far between these days), “just say no”
It hardly takes “psychic powers” to understand that approaching someone who is working on a task is, in and of itself, an interruption.
But isn’t that what your very presence is saying? That’s what any interruption is about, when you get right down to it. However, in the polite world, the follow-on is more like “Excuse me, do you have a minute?” or “Sorry to interrupt, but can I ask a quick question?”
Wait, so, you’ve never even worked in an office, but you’re arguing office ettiquette with me?
Ah, but I acknowledge that my behaviour is passive-aggressive.
What, without knowing what the person wants? Maybe they just have a quick question, or maybe they need 2 hours of my time. How is it my responsibility to change my schedule to meet needs that haven’t even been expressed to me?
Ok, you’re getting waaaay too worked up over a simple difference of opinion. You’re the one who said you hoped you’d never have to work with me, so I gave you a general description of my company to help you avoid that situation. I’ll say the same thing to you that I said to guizot: I’m the only one in the thread so far who has this opinion, so why get your knickers in a twist about little ol’ me?
For the record, rudeness and/or disrespect are not tolerated at my company. I am very well-liked here (and that’s not just my opinion, I know it for a fact), I enjoy leadership responsibilities, and I get compliments about my consideration and politeness.
You seriously need to chill, and get back to me when you’ve worked in an office for a while.
As evidenced by the fact that you are going on with your work as though tthe person wasn’t there.
[qrote]But isn’t that what your very presence is saying? That’s what any interruption is about, when you get right down to it.
[/quote]
No, my presence is saying, “I have a question/something I need to tell you when you’re done/can conveniently bookmark what you’re doing.”
No, in the polite world you wait until the person looks up and acknowledges you, rather than go out of your way to break their train of though (unless it is apparent after about fifteen seconds or so that the person hasn’t seen you, then a polite sound such as a throat clearing is in order.) THEN, you say, “Sorry to interrupt…” or whatever.
Assume much? I’ve never worked for a software firm, but, guess what, there is more than one kind of office. Guess what? Massage studios have offices, too, and when the therapists aren’t in session, we’re handling the clerical/receptionist duties. I’ve also done clerical work and market research, and whether you’re soldering a wire, entering a time card, or doing the post-survey data entry, the rules of etiquette still apply. You give the person you’re approaching a bit of time to finish what they’re doing, or come to a point where stopping won’t cause them to have to backtrack, and wait for them to acknowledge you.
Good on you.
And by ignoring the person who has been so obnoxiously rude as to recognize the fact that your job may be important, you will never find out. Ever consider the idea of asking, “Whatcha need?” and determining if this is going to take two minutes or two hours?
You’re the one who considers having respect for your coworker to be rude and passive-aggressive.
Your company must have some strange corporate culture if respecting the fact that someone’s job is important is considered rude and passive-aggressive, and ignoring a person for showing that respect is thought to be considerate and polite.
I have.
Or now are you going to say that the rules of etiquette are different if your job is editing PowerPoint slides than if it’s data entry?
No, now I’m going to say that I’m tired of the willful disregard of logic and common sense, the sarcasm, and the thinly-veiled insults.
Have a lovely evening. 
Just so you know, I consulted with the Mango Tree on this matter. My mother worked her way up from billing clerk to business manager of a major oncology practice back home in Indiana (this was in the Paleolithic era when doing your job well got you raises and promotions, rather than the pink slip that seems usual the past decade or so), and also has a shrine to Miss Manners in her bedroom, and so probably knows a thing or two about office etiquette.
She agrees with me- when approaching a desk where someone is working, you hover. This is the polite thing to do. To speak to the person before they acknowledge you gives the message that you think that their job is unimportant and they should drop what they’re doing immediately and attend to you. And the polite response to a hoverer is to finish/bookmark whatever you’re doing and say something to the effect of “Hi, can I help you”.
Please send the Mango Tree over here (the climate’s perfect for her) - and you can throw in Miss Manners for good measure. Let them see if they can train my boss. Last week she walked up to my desk when I was on the phone - and it was after office hours - and proceeded to talk to me at full volume, AS IF MY PHONE DIDN’T EVEN EXIST.
It’s been in therapy ever since.
Good point, roger. Some people argue quite persuasively that English majors produce some of the most incomprehensible language. Every Sunday I go to confessional at Our Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels of the Poricucla to beg for absolusion. (In both English and Spanish, though I don’t know which works best )
I apologize for any misunderstanding.
I’d also like to say that Misnomer is not the only one to say the hovering can be rude. I pefectly agree that in certain situations, it can be very much an interruption. She has a VERY GOOD point, and I agree with her in certain situations.
That’s why I continuouly say: “Context, context, context.”
To prove my point, I’d love to take Misnomer (providiing it wouldn’t offend any of her friends), to an East Hollywood house party, where the more interesting people gather in the well-lighted kitchen. (They only leave when a particulary good salsa song comes on, and simply must dance.) Everybody is "hovering,"and nobody is prying. It’s just a kind of big communication-fest. And it really helps–in East Hollywood, if you know Spanish as well as Englsh, and if you can make “Spanglish puns,” you’re in for quite a night…let me just leave it at that…
So if Misnomer would do me the honor of attending an East Hollywood party–and I fully recognize that there is no reason why she should, considering that she doesn’t know me–I would perhaps be able to show her certain "CONTEXTS, CONTEXTS, and CONTEXTS,"where "hovering"is simply the fact of the reality of small kitchen gatherings.
Otherwise, I’m with her: hovering can be a form of interruption.
But sometimes, it’s just the life of the party!
Not all of life takes place in the Dilbert office.