I’ll admit it; I hate to walk in to the kitchen at work and see scummy dishes sitting in the sink. I think it’s disgusting.
A former co-worker, however, would become enraged when he saw the same dishes in the sink day after day. He started with leaving notes for the anonymous owners of the dishes, reminding them that their “petri dishes” were cultivating all kinds of bacteria. When that didn’t work, he started putting their dishes into the dishwasher for them, thinking they would get the hint. They didn’t. Finally, he started throwing away any dishes that were in the sink for more than 24 hours.
Our other co-workers were evenly divided on the issue: Some thought he was the annoying nag of a coworker, while others thought the dish owners were in the wrong.
Do you work with one or more co-workers who seriously annoy you? Is there someone in your office whose habits and behavior patterns just drive you crazy? Whether your co-worker talks loudly on the phone with friends, plays computer games or shops online all day or leaves a trail of crumbs and dirty dishes behind them, these sorts of issues occur at almost every company.
Read more on annoying co-workers on EHS Today.
EHS Today is an NED companion site within Penton's Manufacturing & Supply Chain Group.