I recently changed jobs – a lateral transfer inside my company. Love the new job, working with great people. The only downside is that I had to move from an office to a cubicle.
My old office was oriented so that I faced the window/door – so no one could see my terminal. In my new cube, my back is to the opening, and people can look over my shoulder at what’s on my computer screen.
This puts a real crimp in my SDMB access. I’ve already been busted once…Notice that I’m doing this on Sunday? This sucks!
You’re all spoiled. Our work recently went to a draconian ‘no internet for personal purposes whatsoever’ policy. On the other hand, I’ve caught up on my reading. In my job you just never know, I can go for months with no down time. Other times, I wonder why I’m bothering coming in.
There are anti-glare screens to fit over your monitor that will render anything on the screen invisible to all but you. Plus that’s a great excuse for making it unreadable. First you complain for a few days about, “Gosh, in this new area I keep getting a headache from the glare on my screen!” And then when you show up with the [del]anti-reading[/del] anti-glare screen, nobody thinks anything of it.
Oooh…anti-glare screen. I wonder how obvious that would be if I showed up with one? My desk hasn’t changed recently, but I am the only one who sits out in the open, and every friggin’ person who walks by on their way to 1) coffee 2) copier 3) bathroom 4) boss’s office glances at my friggin’ screen.
I do NOT slack at work, but you know, I’d like to be able to pull up CBC news or something while I’m on hold, and not feel defensive. This is a huge pet peeve of mine. I walk into the two young property managers’ offices, and half the time either personal email or personal interest websites are loaded on their computers. But they’re in an office, and if they choose, have the luxury of a quick alt-tab. People are behind me all the friggin’ time.
I started working at a new hospital in December and everything is blocked. And I mean everything. Even parts of the hospital’s own web site. (I really don’t get that one.) It’s not like I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands or anything, this place is busy, busy, but going cold turkey is kinda hard on me.
The OP could have been me…from office to cubicle, and from an extremely tolerant environment to a relatively intolerant one. It’s really crampin’ my style, man.
Then again, shouldn’t I be able to avoid the Internet until I get home? Maybe admitting I have a problem is the first step. (If it is, I’ll post about it right away.)
Can you rearrange your cube? Tell them the lighting is better that way or something. I have the same problem. Our cubes are half height and classroom style (6 cubes, 2 per row). I’m in the front row, and it fucking sucks. I’ve always been the “sit in the back of the class” kind of guy, and get paranoid wondering what people are thinking of the sites I bring up. That’s on top of being paranoid about whether “someone is watching me” from behind. I like to be in the back watching everything, not everyone watching me. But I also realize that it’s irrational thinking, people could probably care less as to what I’m up to. But every now and again, I’ll be reading a news story with a big headline, and some dumbass behind me brings up the topic that I’m reading. This concludes that my paranoid delusions are true, and that people are watching me! I hate it when I’m in front.
Fortunately for me, they’re going to redesign our area, again.
Of course, while the immediate problem is people walking by and seeing what you are up to by glancing at your screen, isn’t it the case that if your company is so inclined, they can electronically monitor all your net surfing and e-mail correspondance? No anti-glare screen can protect you from that.
My personal rule for the office, and one I advised all the people I supervised to follow, was “always assume that every activity you conduct on the computer here at the office can and will be observed by Mrs. H [the big boss]. If you wouldn’t want her to know what sites you been looking at or what e-mail you’ve been writing, don’t do it at the office.”
At that office we had cubicles in a bull pen, and video cameras that recorded from several angles 24/7. So there was no privacy at all. Although to be fair, they were more concerned about theft problems/getting scooped in a journalistic version of industrial espionage than they were about what their employees were doing during down time.
I’ve since quit and in my current work I telecommute. Way, WAY too much freedom to goof off for an undisciplined soul like me.
