# weird-ass business meeting behavior? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096 "2011-08-18T00:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/1 "2011-08-18T00:11:02Z")
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen while sitting through yet another workplace meeting? “Why do you ask?” I hear you say. Because I was both disgusted and bored, of course! It’s a relatively casual workplace so excusing oneself to use the restroom, etc. has always been acceptable, so don’t try to talk me into a sympathetic viewpoint. Do. not. try. that. Sitting in a meeting today with a 15 co-workers and a vendor who was making a presentation for us, one dude suddenly whips out nose drops. not the squeeze bottle, poof poof and you’re done ones, but a big Walgreen’s pharmacy bottle with a eye-dropper type thingy. He blows his nose loudly, then bends over head between knees and shoots a dropper-full up each nostril. 30 seconds go by. When he gets back above sea level, the dirty hankie gets whipped out and shoved up said nostrils, along with the index finger, for a nice interior wash n wax. Then back to normal, like nothing. At least my favorite co-worker and I shared a chuckle, I guess that’s the bright side ??? ---
**Author:** ![foxymoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d26b3c/32.png) [@foxymoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foxymoron)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/2 "2011-08-18T00:24:25Z")
What the hell? That is _reallllly_ not okay. Did no one say anything to him? ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/3 "2011-08-18T00:30:15Z")
(I’m logged in as me now, OP’d as Mr. J. a/k/a Digger. oops. forgive me please) no. Maybe we all wanted to believe we were the only one seeing it, and that our calling him out might draw attention? Maybe it’s that I’m relatively new and he’s the very most senior person at my level and everyone has been letting it slide for a while? Maybe we’re just too nice to interrupt yet another fascinating power point. Who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/4 "2011-08-18T01:30:22Z")
On the bright side, it could’ve been worse. Your co-worker could’ve been suffering from hemmoroids instead. Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/5 "2011-08-18T01:31:04Z")
That’s both completely disgusting and completely believable. You wouldn’t believe the shit I’ve seen some of our chemists and engineers do in the workplace, in meetings, and at customers. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/6 "2011-08-18T01:56:40Z")
My boss used to spit tobacco juice into a cup all day long and then forget it places around the office. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/7 "2011-08-18T02:31:19Z")
You need to stop going to the ass-business meetings, clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/8 "2011-08-18T02:39:43Z")
I knew a guy who used to read the newspaper during the morning staff meeting. And by read, I mean holding the paper up, completely open, turning pages loudly, the whole bit. You could tell he was pissing the boss off something fierce. Funny thing is, he owed his job to the boss, and he wasn’t all that good at it. Then one day, after the morning staff meeting, he cleaned out his desk and was gone. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/9 "2011-08-18T03:43:02Z")
Was his name Wally? ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/10 "2011-08-18T03:52:50Z")
> [@tenacious\_j](#): > > (I’m logged in as me now, OP’d as Mr. J. a/k/a Digger. oops. forgive me please) You may have just committed sock-icide. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/11 "2011-08-18T13:05:32Z")
At one magazine where I worked, the editor used to _floss his teeth_ during story conferences. Then he would ball up the tooth-gunk and _flick it across the room_. I just can’t see Harold Ross doing that at _The New Yorker_. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/12 "2011-08-18T13:13:20Z")
> [@AnalogSignal](#): > > You may have just committed sock-icide. No, I read that as husband and wife each have an account and she posted under her husband’s log-in by mistake. Anyhow, not a business meeting, but I was doing a mandatory training yesterday. Someone excused her self, and I figured she was just going to the rest room or something, as she left most of her stuff at her desk. She didn’t come back for 40 minutes. When asked what had happened, she said that she ran out to a doctor’s appointment. She does not get credit for the training. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/13 "2011-08-18T16:11:30Z")
Not in a meeting, but I witnessed a temp borrow scissors from a coworker and then procede to use them to cut her toe nails. She was sitting at the receptionist’s desk in the executive suite at the time. Strangely, she wasn’t offered a full time position… ---
**Author:** ![curious11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@curious11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious11)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/14 "2011-08-18T16:36:15Z")
One of my coworkers nose hairs look like they are combed into his moustache. I can’t look at his face when I talk to him. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/15 "2011-08-18T17:05:14Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I knew a guy who used to read the newspaper during the morning staff meeting. And by read, I mean holding the paper up, completely open, turning pages loudly, the whole bit. You could tell he was pissing the boss off something fierce. > > Funny thing is, he owed his job to the boss, and he wasn’t all that good at it. Then one day, after the morning staff meeting, he cleaned out his desk and was gone. Similarly, I had a meeting with an associate from another company who was not even trying to be discreet about trading stocks online throughout the meeting. I really wouldn’t have cared if he didn’t ask me to repeat things over and over because he wasn’t paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/16 "2011-08-18T18:48:41Z")
I know I posted this before, but I still find it funny. The weird-ass behavior was by two of the presenters. This was a looooong meeting. It was catered for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Remember the SNL skits with Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer where they played a couple of NPR radio hosts? They spoke in flat, airy monotone voices. Every now and then one of them would say “yeah, I’m excited” in the same monotone voice. The joke was that they were tediously boring. They are professional actresses and comediennes who can pull that sort of stuff off. And they had a team of professional comedy writers write them a great skit. How long do you think a skit like that could go on? 2, maybe 3 minutes? Imagine a couple of executives doing that for an HOUR. All while talking about the fiscal year and projected earnings. An HOUR. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/17 "2011-08-18T18:53:56Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I knew a guy who used to read the newspaper during the morning staff meeting. And by read, I mean holding the paper up, completely open, turning pages loudly, the whole bit. You could tell he was pissing the boss off something fierce.\ That made me snort out loud. I can just picture it…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/18 "2011-08-18T19:00:03Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > My boss used to spit tobacco juice into a cup all day long and then forget it places around the office. I had a boss like that. Never went anywhere without a coffee cup full of spit. He left it on my desk one too many times and I went to HR. Just knowing it was a cup of spit was enough to turn my stomach. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/19 "2011-08-18T19:17:24Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > I had a boss like that. Never went anywhere without a coffee cup full of spit. He left it on my desk one too many times and I went to HR. Just knowing it was a cup of spit was enough to turn my stomach. ::shudder:: Spit is one of my phobias. I can see blood or puke without getting the heaves, but spit . . . . ::gag:: ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096/20 "2011-08-18T20:09:09Z")
And I thought my co-worker in another state was bad. We had a video conference a few days ago with all of us scattered across five states, and there was a SKNXXXK! - his head dropped and he jerked back to consciousness. In fairness, meetings scheduled right after lunch are cruel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-ass-business-meeting-behavior/593096.md?page=2)