Is it okay to complain?

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Last night I was at work (I work 3pm to midnight) and one of my nearby coworkers had their music up so loud that I could I could have sung along if I'd wanted to. I asked my manager to do something, and he told me to try ignoring it. I can't ignore music, though. If I can hear it, it makes me completely unable to focus on anything else, which is a huge problem since I'm at work. Later when everyone was clocking out I mentioned to some of the others how much I hate it when people play their music loud. I said that I can't think of many things more selfish than having music be pumped directly into your ears, but still feeling the need to turn it up so that everyone around you can hear it. Everyone just stared at me like I was the biggest baby they had ever seen and was I whining about nothing.

So, should I keep this stuff to myself or is it okay to complain about things like that?

Screw what the others think. If the loud music is interupting you and you cant focus on work you need to tell your manager. Tell the manager you cant focus when musics too loud. They should do something about it.

It's probably better to keep it to yourself in an employment situation like this.

You probably could have talked to the guy alone, and asked him nicely to turn the music down.

Asking them myself usually just makes them say "You can't hear that!" Right, because I definitely have so little to do that I have enough time to walk halfway across the room and ask you to turn down music I can't even hear. Needless to say, they don't turn it down.

I'd have to say, request the music be turned down; don't complain at work; come here to complain.

It sounds like you didn't have a very good reception from the other workers. Bear in mind that some of them may actually have LIKED the music. Also, if you are hypersensitive to noise (I understand - I am, myself) you may have been bothered by music that wasn't really very loud, to most people.

Still, you have to get along with the other workers. Take that into account.

Complaining to your manager, especially if you haven't asked the guy nicely first to turn the music down and warned him about what you were going to do once he dismissed your request, makes you a rat—it's essentially the best way to make everyone unanimously despise you. Dealing with the guy one on one lets him decline your request and call you a crybaby. Therefore, you're screwed—that's the whole point.

Sure, complain all you want. It should be obvious by now that no one really cares.

What would you suggest, then? I can't wear earplugs because me ears are a weird shape that makes plugs painful to put in. I've tried listening to white noise in my own headphones, but headphones are uncomfortable too. Besides that, the fact that I'm having to go out of my way because other people find being decent people too hard just makes me even madder.

In that case, I would suggest you have a private conversation with your manager, and if once again he/she says to just live with it, tell them you'd like to consult HR about it. Find out who to talk to in HR. Most likely, HR will tell your manager to cut the noise. I don't think you even need to request a disability accommodation or declare you have a disability. Just tell HR that the noise makes it hard for you to work productively, and your manager won't do anything about it.

However, you will need to do all this in a calm manner or you could easily get yourself fired. And both these conversations need to be in person, in an office with a closed door. You don't want everyone knowing your business.

Ask them politely to turn it down and if they don't, run and kick that thing as hard as you can! Lol, well maybe not actually kick it but mentally. In all seriousness, that sounds like a difficult situation. Take a deep breath, calmly approach them about the radio and be firm when asking them to turn it off or down. Like said by other people, goto the manager for help. Yes it is OK to complain because your job could possibly be on the line