#026 Vocal Emissions

I work in an engineering lab inside my building about 30% of the time I am at work, and in an office environment the remaining 70% of the time.

The lab is noisy, often hot and dirty, and with the high walls and ceilings sounds tend to echo and boom.

The office, however, is typically quiet and I quite enjoy the lack of noise. In the section of the building where I am seated, the room is approximately 60x30 and houses one walled-in office in the corner and partitions with 9 desks and a small seating area. There is no printer in my section of the building, and there is very little foot traffic through my area except around in/out times (beginning of day, lunch, end of day). Most of the people seated around me are generally courteous of the others seated in the same area… they keep their phone calls quiet, they don’t hold loud conversations with others passing by, and (thankfully) no one tries to do any mechanical work at their desk (banging, pounding, etc.).

However, there is one guy that is seated in my area that constantly sniffles and sighs… and when he sighs it's generally with a muttered drawn-out phrase such as "ohhh shhhhit" or "ohhh geeeez" or "ohhh craaaaap". Also, any time he bends or reaches for anything at or near his desk, he always emits sort of a grunting, groaning or straining noise. He's not particularly old, and he appears to be fairly agile and able-bodied... so why all the grunting, groaning and sighing?? These emissions of his occur LITERALLY over a dozen times a day. Also, the sniffling seems to be just a habit, because he doesn’t have a runny nose and he rarely ever uses a tissue. He also talks to himself quite a bit, too, which is almost as equally annoying. He can’t possibly be that stressed out... he just started a brand new job!

I feel that people, in an office area (attempting to do solitary work), should be seen and NOT HEARD! It's SO distracting!!!