Humming all day long

[Taz_Zoee]

Welcome to my world!! I've been dealing with a hummer/singer in my office for MONTHS (almost a full year) now. I tell (or ask) him to stop. Finally at our last company staff meeting it was mentioned not to do that because it is distracting to those trying to concentrate. And he still does it! But I just remind him of the meeting. I actually haven't heard him today, now that I think about it.

A co-worker that used to sit in the cubicle right next to him would wear ear plugs or headphones to drown him out. And I think it's worse because he is male, so the sound is deeper and travels farther.

Good luck! I would definitely tell HR though. I did! And I told my supervisor and she told me I should talk to him and I told her I DO!!!

[caseysmom]

My boss would take care of it but it wouldn't be tactful at all I have been trying to avoid that.

[Cataholic]

Could you mention to her, "you know, I hear you making noises over here, and I always think you are saying something to me!" Maybe she isn't aware of it??

[caseysmom]

Could you mention to her, "you know, I hear you making noises over here, and I always think you are saying something to me!" Maybe she isn't aware of it??

She is actually on the other side of the isle...I don't think she would get it sadly. When she first moved there she would just start saying something to me so I stopped responding to discourage that...so did her more direct neighbor, the one that already spoke to her.

[Karen]

She may be unaware that she does it so much. I had an assistant that would tunelessly whistle opera at times, years ago. He honestly wasn't aware he was doing it, so I (with his permission) poked or threw something at him whenever he started, he eventually stopped altogether!

Does she know she's doing it? If she needs natural light because of a brain tumor, might this also be something caused by that? Some tumors can cause tinnitus, (ringing in the ears) and some sufferers hum to drown it out.

[caseysmom]

She hasn't mention any ringing in her ear. I don't know her really well she just moved there about 4 months ago and our jobs don't get us together at all she is a different unit.

She is just one of those people that seems to be emitting some kind of noise at all times, talking, humming...the radio....

[kuhio98]

Sorry, I'm guilty of the same thing.

I hum all day long. I have apologized to my coworkers on numerous occasions over the years but they all swear to me that they enjoy it because it is nice to hear humming because it is happy and cheerful.

But, I have an office to myself these days.

I shared an office with 3 other people back in 2000-2001. None of them complained. I either didn't hum so much in those days, or they were very tolerant, or they had their headphones on.

One of the guys cleared his throat every 5 minutes -- that was annoying. It was so loud and sharp that it would startle me. Every now and then, I'd actually jump in my seat.

But, what are you going to do? People have annoying habits. In the grand scheme of things, they really aren't that bad. I'd rather put up with humming and throat clearing 8 to 12 hours a day (I work 12-hour days) than be unemployed. I guess pick your battles. To me, this isn't one worth making a huge issue out of.