Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Things I hate

Three little things I hate about my day (and these happen every day in some variation):

1.) When I answer the phone and say “Hi, this is Elizabeth.” And then the person asks, “Is this Elizabeth?” (By the way, Elizabeth is my work name. I have found over the years that “Liz” is too tricky a name for people to get. When I used to use that version of my name it went like this, “Hi, this is Liz?” and then the person would say “What? Who is this?” And then I would say “Liz. This is Liz.” And then they would say “What? Less? Lisa?” And then I would say, “No, Lizzzzz.” And by then I hated them and their ancestors and couldn’t give a crap about their problem. So, that’s why I adopted Elizabeth as my work name.)


2.) When people send me emails saying that a) God (the Universe, an angel, a Tibetan monk) will answer my prayer if I pass this on to 5 other people in 5 minutes, but if not, the person who I thought of at the beginning of the email is going to die, or b) an inspirational message of hope all in Spanish (at least I think that’s what it’s about based upon the pictures (Dear Friend Who Speaks Spanish, I do not speak Spanish. It’s a beautiful language, but I don’t know it. Please remember that the next time you send me an 18 minute PowerPoint. Sincerely, Liz.))


3.) When my officemate laughs uproariously just to get me to ask what she’s laughing about only to find out that it’s a picture of a cat in a T-shirt. (This is actually why I now wear headphones at all times—even if I’m not listening to music. I can pretend I am and not respond. I know, I’m evil and mean and deserve to be swarmed by locusts.)


So, what’s a little something you hate about your day?

Oh, and if you don't leave a comment within 5 minutes of reading this, the person on your left is going to have a horrible accident. So, if it's someone you hate, yay! If it's someone you like, turn around.

9 comments:

Ms. Liz said...

1) whispery giggly conversations that last 30 minutes on the otherside of my cubicle wall when I'm trying to crunch complicated information
2) When people micorwave fish for lunch in the very non-ventelated kitchen and don't even to think to reach for the Lysol
3) co-workers that try to start conversations in the bathroom through the stall divider. I'm really sorry - thats my 90 seconds of "no one can bother me". Keep your shoe commentary to yourself! My word.

Andrea said...

I'm getting annoyed with co-workers who hum and they think they sound good when they hum but in reality they can't even carry a tune in a bucket, and just in case you can't hear them when they're humming, they actually break out into song. Because of this I am starting to dislike all Rascal Flatts songs.

Laura said...

Oh my gosh - Liz - the fish thing just happened yesterday. I save fish leftovers for the privacy of my own home. And I SO agree about the bathroom thing. Private time only.

Here are some of mine:
- I work in the financial industry and have several calls a day from angry people who seem to be blaming me for the market not doing well. Trust me, I'm not that powerful. And even after I explain to them that while I am licensed, I am unable to offer them financial advice, they still continue to ask me where they should invest. Hello!

- Loud talkers and/or people who have conversations on speaker phone without shutting their office door. Did they think that maybe that's one of the reasons they have a door?

- People who can't seem to figure out that if you're driving up a hill, you need to give it a little more gas.

- There are SO many more...and now I'm all annoyed about them even though they aren't happening to me right now. I may need to vent on my own post!

rachelsaysso said...

Liz, (or should I say Elizabeth)
All of yours are mine too. The phone one in particular. What also really gets me is when people call me and don't say who they are.

I also can't handle office pot lucks and birthday celebrations.

Oh, and I hate the bathroom conversation thing too.

And the speaker phone thing.

Gina said...

Here's something that annoyed me to no end yesterday. Chris and I went to Office Depot to pick up some labels for school. I had the school purchase card and so I gently reminded the cashier (who has "trainee" written below her name) (and there were five people behind me and no other cashiers in sight)(well one showed up and said "I'll take the next person (which was me), but instead two business men jumped out of my line and into their line, which annoyed me to no end (I spoke out loud about them)) that I had the tax exempt card. 15 minutes later, she figured out that I had to swipe the card to get the discount. Yikes! I was fuming and let out some not nice comments about the lack of customer service. It was not the trainee's fault. Where were the managers? During this episode, Chris began stroking my back as if I were some puppy and he was making comments like, "Look. They have both kinds of lifesavers."

Johnna said...

Ha, I was always going to do a work name. Instead, I just agreed with whatever they thought I said--Joanie, Johanna, Jonah. And I've given up at restaurants--since I've been married I just give the hostess my husband's first name, even when the husband's in a different time zone.

rachelsaysso said...

Gina, did you threaten to punch Office Depot in the face?

Liz the Poet said...

Oh, I'm so glad I'm not alone!

Heather said...

nope--you're not alone. just check out this article about the 10 Habits of Highly Annoying Workers:
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1164&SiteId=cbmsnhp41164&sc_extcmp=JS_1164_home1>1=10466&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=522c4e6de20a46bcad256459d1f48a86-245329877-RH-4