Ahh, the sweet sounds of phlegm...

spinsterrific · Emu Egg Joined: Feb 27, 2005 Posts: 8

Hello all,

I know I'm not exactly a regular member here, mostly because I haven't had many issues related to my Aspieness for a while, but there's been something going on at work that's really been grating on my nerves, and I figured maybe some of you could relate to this:

For the past 8 months, I've been stuck in a cubicle next to a guy who has some sort of chronic mucus problem. Every day, I have to listen to him unleash the loudest, most violent coughing and hacking I've ever heard in my life. He hacks up a giant phlegm wad an average of approximately once every 90 seconds (yes, I've kept logs to determine the frequency with which he does this). For the first couple of months, I tried to let it go, figuring it was a cold or something. That's a pretty long cold, but hey, stranger things have happened. But no, it just kept on going. Every day. Every 90 seconds. Not only is it very distracting, but at this point, it's starting to trigger an almost violent reaction. This cough makes me want to break things. Mad

It's that bad. I swear, it's almost like he's deliberately trying to see how loudly he can do it.

What I'd like to know is if there's anything I can do about this. I've asked if I could move my desk, but since our company is getting a new building in about a year, my superiors told me this would be pointless and can't be done. I've tried asking this guy (with semi-sarcasm) if he was okay, and all he said was, "ohhh... just slowly drowning over here." (Eww!) I thought about leaving cough drops or Mucinex just sort of lying around, but I'm not sure that alone would be enough for him to get the message. The other guy in this building sure didn't get my hint when I put a can of air freshener in the bathroom because he kept dropping his stinky hangover turds in there every morning. Rolling Eyes

Something tells me that perhaps my hints are too subtle. But I digress...

Anyway, it's almost getting to the point where I may have to say something directly to him. I'm not even sure he's aware that he's doing this. I think his hearing may be slightly bad, because he doesn't hear his cell phone with the stupid, annoying ringtone going off either. So, what would be the nicest way of dealing with this? Would it be rude to just say, "Dude... I know you've gotta do what you've gotta do, but is there no way to control the volume??" Or do I have to just sit here and suck it up? I'm actually wearing earplugs right now, and they're not doing any good. Sad

This sucks. I would love my job if it weren't for this guy.

Well, sorry for the rant. Thanks to anyone who actually read all this. If anyone has some advice, that'd be much appreciated too. Smile

_________________
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