# I Pit Lazy, Inconsiderate Coworkers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 14, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931 "2008-10-14T19:20:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/21 "2008-10-15T21:18:17Z")
Some fairly decent replies here. Thanks. As for the, “They may not notice,” I don’t buy it. Some people may not have toilet paper or paper towel dispensers in their homes, but I highly doubt that’s even a specific minority. One thing I may not have made clear in my post is that I don’t go around looking for these things to fix and then bitch about. I refill the paper towel roll or bathroom dispenser when I go to dry my hands and there are no fucking towels. I change the water dispenser bottle when I go to refill my mug and there’s no fucking water. I push the chairs in when I want to go to the refridgerator and my path is blocked. I make coffee because no one else has made any fucking coffee. I clean the counter because I don’t want to set my own food down in filth, etc. I don’t go looking for this shit. Believe me, I’ve got plenty of other things to do. I just can’t get back to work and do my own stuff without handling this shit first. If I don’t want wet hands at my keyboard, I have to change the towels, etc. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/22 "2008-10-15T22:03:26Z")
> [@FallenAngel](#): > > For background, I’m the marketing manager for a small technology company. > How is it that in a company filled with educated adults, I am the only one who can seem to: > > Make coffee > Change paper towels in either the break room or the bathroom > Change the water dispenser bottle > Change a toilet paper roll > Clean crumbs and food droppings off the counter > Push chairs back into the breakroom table > Refill soap dispensers or > Take sponges out of the sink? > . What does _Make coffee Change paper towels in either the break room or the bathroom Change the water dispenser bottle Change a toilet paper roll Clean crumbs and food droppings off the counter Push chairs back into the breakroom table Refill soap dispensers or Take sponges out of the sink?_ have to do with being _"the marketing manager for a small technology company_"? I assume they pay you for, err, umm- _marketing_? They likely pay the other “educated adults” to do other professional tasks. If the company wants the staff to “Make coffee…Change paper towels, etc” then they will hire someone to do so or include it in someones job duties. We have someone here whose job is to do all those things (and quite a few more), and oddly enough she is the ““mother hen” type” all the way down to being a "middleaged angry fat woman with the drawerful of Little Debbies ". (Spot on **Dripping**!) . Until then, either do that stuff or not. Your choice. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/23 "2008-10-15T22:06:39Z")
My office nemesis is both a Mother Hen _ **and** _ a Lazy, Inconsiderate CoWorker. She makes a point of not letting me set up the office the way that works best for me, nor store things where they should be. I also apparently wash dishes incorrectly. How I put things on the counter is wrong. She moves them all the time. She cleans up after me in a way that makes it clear she’s the alpha dog in the office. I’m not allowed to be too busy to put boxes of paper away right away, but she’s had shit lying around this office for months. I’m not allowed to store empty boxes in my own office (since I may need them to ship things). Yet she has boxes and boxes of crap in our common areas. She also has lost all our forks and knives. She uses them, leaves them dirty lying somewhere in her office for months (!!) and then, I assume, throws them away. She and her minions drink all the coffee and the soda but never replaces it. Not a cleanliness issue, but she’ll repeatedly screw up the copier/printer and not fix it. She has her ugly art all over this office (and leaning against walls because she brings it in but is too lazy to hang it.) She’s constantly shouting into her cell, complaining and bitching about something. So much so that we all have to close our doors. Her way or the highway, because clearly none of us know what we’re doing or are allowed to have an opinion. But god help you if you complain about her stupid shit. She is the most entitled, passive-aggressive to straight up aggressive, inconsiderate, lazy, and bossy person I’ve ever met. And she’s only here because my boss is doing her a favor! It’s a horror everyday. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/24 "2008-10-15T22:11:14Z")
Go on strike. Stop making coffee; go to Mcdonald’s or Starbucks until others start helping with that. Bring your own supply of napkins, bottled water, and hand soap; keep these in a locked desk drawer and do not share. Wipe up your own crumbs, and grit your teeth about the mess others make. They will learn. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/25 "2008-10-15T22:24:49Z")
> [@Foxy40](#): > > Regarding the break room issues, I do recommend putting a sign up with break room duty assignments on alternate days. That seems to work in our office and people are aware that it is part of their job to make sure the break room is clean and any garbage with food is emptied in the trash bin outside before they leave. This came to be after I warned everyone that any dishes that are left in the sink will be thrown out. And I did it for about a week. People were pissed about their coffee cups but they were warned and I was serious. Here at my job a co-worker and I got tired of people not doing their dishes and put up a list of everyone’s name and when it was their turn to do dishes. Everyone was on the list, even the CEO. Then we sat back and waited. People started freaking out and emailing their boss and grumbling about it. It was good theatre. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/26 "2008-10-15T22:38:16Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > Here at my job a co-worker and I got tired of people not doing their dishes and put up a list of everyone’s name and when it was their turn to do dishes. Everyone was on the list, even the CEO. Then we sat back and waited. People started freaking out and emailing their boss and grumbling about it. It was good theatre. That’s where I’d like to be the CEO, and make it even more theatrical. Gather up the top manager(s) and go into the break room where the list is posted. Furrow my brow a lot. Ask someone to get the person who put up the list. Stand there looking pensive while waiting. Yes, I’m going to do something about this situation right now. When the person comes in, break into a big smile and thank him/her for making a list, shake his/her hand. Say that I expect everyone to do their part to keep the room clean. Then of course, being me, I’d make sure that _I_ did the dishes on the day that I was on the list, so that NO ONE had any excuses about how they were too high level to be doing that kind of thing. Ah, but then, I’m not a CEO and most top management people are too egotistical to do anything of the sort. But it would be fun, if only for the theatrics of watching arrogant pricks squirm. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/27 "2008-10-15T22:40:20Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > You could potentially waste a pot of coffee per day that way, though. If you want to drink coffee, you should be prepared to brew it without bitching. That’s why I said “before noon.” I’m in Seattle. No way is a pot of coffee made any time before noon (or 1. or 2. and possibly 3) no going to be drunk by the end of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/28 "2008-10-15T23:00:00Z")
My workplace got rid of the coffee makers when they got tired of replacing glass carafes that shattered after the idiots that drank the last of the coffee would not make another pot and would not even bother to turn the burner off. Well, that and about half of the coffee packets were going home in someone’s pockets. Unfortunately they haven’t gotten rid of the lazy stupid people. We have a number of smaller break rooms in addition to the main cafeteria. The sinks in the cafeteria have garbage disposals. The sinks in the break rooms do not. People insist on rinsing out their dirty dishes in the break room sinks and then just letting the food sit in the bottom of the sink. They’ve even put signs up in front of the sinks telling people “DO NOT LEAVE FOOD IN THE SINK! THERE IS NO GARBAGE DISPOSAL!” Apparently the lazy stupid people are also illiterate, because there’s still all kinds of crap left in the sinks. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/29 "2008-10-15T23:01:13Z")
> [@FallenAngel](#): > > For background, I’m the marketing manager for a small technology company. Seriously, people, two seconds of effort wouldn’t fucking kill you. The key piece of info here is you’re the MANAGER. Apparently, two seconds is a virtual death sentence for the lazy among us. As a manager, I’m sure you’re aware that some individuals need to be directed in every aspect of their jobs, due to their inability to complete even the most mundane tasks, thereby insuring that one person(that would be you) doesn’t have to play work mommy for every lazy bitch in your work place. Go ahead, be a dick. If you wait, it will be much worse. You’ll be foaming at the mouth, spraying everybody in sight, and you’ll come off like a nutjob. I have found, at my place of work at least, the posting of a sign that reads “Your mommy doesn’t work here, so clean up after yourself” has garnered a decent response. And when it doesn’t, It’s nice to be able to direct the resident tards to something concrete, something they can read over and over agian, as needed. I try to avoid rubbing their noses in it. As it is in a high place, it’s tough to get their noses anywhere near it, as their noses are usually up the cashiers ass, or other places that will garner them no brown noser points whatsoever. Employees?! What can one do. Hope this has been of help to you in your business endeavors. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2008, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/30 "2008-10-15T23:21:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > That’s where I’d like to be the CEO, and make it even more theatrical. > > Gather up the top manager(s) and go into the break room where the list is posted. Furrow my brow a lot. Ask someone to get the person who put up the list. Stand there looking pensive while waiting. Yes, I’m going to do something about this situation right now. > > When the person comes in, break into a big smile and thank him/her for making a list, shake his/her hand. Say that I expect everyone to do their part to keep the room clean. > > Then of course, being me, I’d make sure that _I_ did the dishes on the day that I was on the list, so that NO ONE had any excuses about how they were too high level to be doing that kind of thing. > > Ah, but then, I’m not a CEO and most top management people are too egotistical to do anything of the sort. > > But it would be fun, if only for the theatrics of watching arrogant pricks squirm. When we thought it had gone long enough we told the CEO it was us and he, being a bit of a prankster himself, thought it was pretty funny. Then he removed the list and just sent everyone a reminder to try to not leave dirty dishes in the sink. I’m lucky enough to work in small, mellow company and if you pull any of the lazy coworker bullshit then you’ll get called for it. \You drink all the jo, make some mo! \ Some months later we put a web cam on top of the microwave (which sits atop the fridge which is next to the sink) and aimed it at the sink. It wasn’t plugged into anything but it was fun to watch a couple people freak out a little. Wasn’t as effective as before because we’ve developed a reputation for Messing With Your Coworkers. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/31 "2008-10-16T00:03:23Z")
What the OP says to me is, “Dammit! I can’t control other people’s behavior.” I think you’ll suffer a lot less stress if you simply clean up after yourself and stop worrying about what everybody else is doing. I don’t use our break room. I do not store anything in the fridge. I do not use common mugs or dishware. I do not drink the coffee. Mostly, because I am picky about these things and either the coffee is swill, or the mugs don’t look clean, or there’s no room in the fridge and I’d forget I put something in there anyway. I make my own coffee in the morning and carry it to work in a travel mug. I go home for lunch and maybe bring a drink back. Once in a while, I drink some water from the big bottle thingy, but there’s a drinking fountain and that water is cold too, and suits me just fine. My issue is: I make a fairly high dollar-per-hour rate. To spend time cleaning up after other people is a skill set that is in a much lower pay grade. That means, to pay me three times the hourly rate as you would a housekeeper – to do housekeeping work – is a waste of employer resources. They would much rather I spend my minutes with my ass parked behind the computer screen, doing what I do. So my breaks are taken at home, with the exception of bathroom trips and I take care to wipe off the counter every time I use the bathroom. So yeah, don’t talk to me about how we should all participate in the housekeeping. That’s not what I get paid for. That’s not what you get paid for. Don’t do it and don’t try to tell other people how to do their jobs. Ask yourself, why is it so frustrating to you that you can’t control what other people do? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/32 "2008-10-16T15:51:09Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > That’s where I’d like to be the CEO, and make it even more theatrical. > Then of course, being me, I’d make sure that _I_ did the dishes on the day that I was on the list, so that NO ONE had any excuses about how they were too high level to be doing that kind of thing. > > Ah, but then, I’m not a CEO and most top management people are too egotistical to do anything of the sort. This is why you’re not a CEO. Your time is simply too valuable to be used doing this. If I was on the BoD and we had a CEO doing this crap, we’d be looking for a new CEO. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/33 "2008-10-16T15:59:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is why you’re not a CEO. Your time is simply too valuable to be used doing this. If I was on the BoD and we had a CEO doing this crap, we’d be looking for a new CEO. I’m with DrDeth on this one. It’s not about being an egomaniacal manager. It’s about prudent use of company resources. In management, you get paid for a given level of expertise or a specific talent that you bring to the table. If dishwashing happens to be that talent, then we’re all on the same page, but most dishwashers do not make more than $100K a year to wash dishes. However, if I am charged with managing a $2 million budget for my department, my company would much prefer I spend my time figuring out ways to conserve some of those budget dollars and for what I do spend, I should be using my time to spend it wisely. Spending high-level salary dollars for dishwashing just doesn’t make sense. That’s like walking into your mechanic and paying him an extra $100 an hour to vac out your car after he changes the oil. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/34 "2008-10-16T16:34:52Z")
When I got to this office I discovered that the coffee maker was filled with lime scale and rancid coffee oils and, as a result, the coffee was nasty. I asked around about the last time it had been cleaned. The guy who’s been working here and drinking coffee from it for 10+ years looked at me quite blankly. I make my own coffee now, or buy it somewhere else. I bet that many of the people you’re cleaning up after don’t clean up after themselves at home either. I have had too many roommates and intimate partners who needed intensive training to learn to wipe the counter in their own homes; as a co-worker you cannot provide this training. Just stop using the kitchen. Honestly. It’s your best hope. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/35 "2008-10-16T16:39:32Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > I gotta say that this sort of thing is one of the things I hate the worst about Corporate America. > > If I’m not guilty of the behavior, don’t fucking waste MY time lecturing me about how I need to clean up after myself. Collective Punishment is bullshit. Sort out who the culprits are and deal with them singly, directly, and privately. > > I hate HATE HATE when some hothead management prick yells at a room full of people or sends out an angry memo to a large group of people because one or a few individuals are causing a problem. > > Don’t give me any bullshit about how you can’t single out one person. It’s your fucking job to single out that one person and deal with their mess. Yelling at 20 uninvolved people only makes you look like an ineffectual cowardly jackass; and none of the rest of us has the power to make that one person change their behavior. Besides, if we actually tried to do it, the next thing you know you’d be yelling and swearing at the whole 20 of us again because there is a bunch of squabbling going on in the staff room and you don’t want to hear it! I never thought about it this way before, **Chimera** ; you’ve made a convert. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931/36 "2008-10-16T17:35:32Z")
~slight detour~ My coworker is inconsiderate and annoying as hell! I can’t stand her! I lock my desk when she’s the one covering my break or my lunch since she so far has: Eaten one of my cookies. (My COOKIES!) LOANED another coworker some of MY change. Changed the pen on my desk for the one in my drawer that I use for personal notes only. Ahhhh. Felt great to get that out! ~return to original route~ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-lazy-inconsiderate-coworkers/467931.md?page=1)