The guy who sits across from me chews gum all day long. And it's not just the normal grown up chewing... it's like the smacking, bubble-blowing and popping, saliva squishing chewing of a 12 year old kid. Anyways, the office is fairly quiet so there is no avoiding his loud obnoxious gum chewing... it just drives me crazy. I am hesitant to confront him to ask him to stop because of the work relationship… it's a little awkward because he is a client of mine basically. I thought maybe I could leave an anonymous note on his desk but I am pretty sure he would know it was me because I'm the closest one to him.

Anyone have any other ideas or advice? Thanks!

Leaving anonymous notes is bad for the work environment. Just ask him to quiet down, most people will listen if you ask nicely.

Stand up...lean forward...and smack the shit out of him! Problem solved.

edit by Cary: Account password compromised, disabled by administrator.

"dude, stop smacking your gum, it's annoying."


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

It is hard to resolve that kind of thing without offending someone. For example I have a coworker who shuts his office door and whistles/sings along with music he's listening to on his headphones. It cuts right through my wall like a spear into my brain, so one day I asked him if he was auditioning for American Idol. I made it like a joke but he got the point and the problem was solved.

I also had an officemate once that was the loudest eater I ever encountered. The slurps, the noises, it was unbearable. I just got in the habit of throwing on a pair of headphones to overcome the noise.

If there is no one else around that you would annoy, maybe a good gum smackin day by you would do the trick.

Bazooka Joe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The guy who sits across from me chews gum all day
> long. And it's not just the normal grown up
> chewing... it's like the smacking, bubble-blowing
> and popping, saliva squishing chewing of a 12 year
> old kid. Anyways, the office is fairly quiet so
> there is no avoiding his loud obnoxious gum
> chewing... it just drives me crazy. I am hesitant
> to confront him to ask him to stop because of the
> work relationship… it's a little awkward because
> he is a client of mine basically. I thought maybe
> I could leave an anonymous note on his desk but I
> am pretty sure he would know it was me because I'm
> the closest one to him.
>
> Anyone have any other ideas or advice? Thanks!

Habits are hard to break. If you ask him to quiet it down, it will only last a few days and he will be back at it. And if he is a client, no matter how nicely you ask or how pragmatically he responds, it will come back to bite you in the ass at some point.

The best solution I can think of is to figure out a reasonable excuse to change your location away from him. It would need to take some creative thought, but if there is an open cubicle in a different part of the office, it may make more sense to come up with a good rationale to be there instead of next to this guy.

Pay-back over something so petty is usually a bad idea. Save the revenge for times when you really have a score to settle. Also, it's never a good idea to retaliate against someone more powerful than you, and since this guy's a client, that puts him in that position. Only retaliate against the weak, that way you know it will work.



oaktonmom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If there is no one else around that you would
> annoy, maybe a good gum smackin day by you would
> do the trick.

TheMeeper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pay-back over something so petty is usually a bad
> idea. Save the revenge for times when you really
> have a score to settle. Also, it's never a good
> idea to retaliate against someone more powerful
> than you, and since this guy's a client, that puts
> him in that position. Only retaliate against the
> weak, that way you know it will work.
>
>
>
> oaktonmom Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > If there is no one else around that you would
> > annoy, maybe a good gum smackin day by you
> would
> > do the trick.


Yeah, if it is a client, maybe not such a great idea. I don't really think of it as retaliation, but more an experiential lesson. Use it on the kids all the time. Doesn't always work. :)

d.

edit by Cary: Account password compromised, disabled by administrator.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2010 01:24PM by inkahootz.

If it were me, I would say, "Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but the way you're chewing your gum is distracting me."

If he's a professional, too, he'll be more mindful of it.

--------------------------------------------------------------
13 4826 0948 82695 25847. Yes.

I find that a Mossberg 500 settles most office disputes, and you get your 15 minutes of fame too!

Well, the last 2 options seem to cover the full 360 degree spectrum of alternatives.

Good luck choosing one.

______________________________________________
I have had to change the addresses to my retaliatory blogs over half a dozen times.

Walk by him and fart.....especially after a good lunch of beans and cabbage/.

Or take a lesson from this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALn0GBkM_5c&feature=related

Headphones.

Rub rat poison all over his gum.

its all about how you say it. You gotta be suave and use some charm. say something like "hey cockbreath, stop chewing that fucking gum.", but you know, say it with charm.

Bazooka Joe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Anyone have any other ideas or advice? Thanks!

Every now and then when he's chewing the gum, just say to him "Wow...that must be some good gum! What kind of gum is that?? Can I have some? " then start asking him "What kind of gum do you have today?"

Keep it up and I bet he'll get quieter....

Graves has it all wrong. ask him out on a date then leave the retard out in the woods naked. then shoot him in the head. problem solved. Graves I heard you are a fruitcake and you like to fart and smell it? is that true? tell me or i will smack you in the girlhood.

"If it were me, I would say, "Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but the way you're chewing your gum is distracting me."

If he's a professional, too, he'll be more mindful of it."

That last line seems to be the issue...at least for me it is. I have an extremely unprofessional co-worker who is a very loud gum chewer (among other horrible traits). If I were to confront her no matter how gently, it would be looked at as a grave offense. The problem is it is a 3 person office and the other two are close friends who happen to share the gum smacking/popping/chomping habit. I am sitting here now with my headphones cranked, but seriously? Should I have to cower into an auditory rabbit hole because of these people??? Professionalism is the key and I sure hope none of you have to deal with this issue in your careers. As petty as it seems, it can make you absolutely miserable!

I agree with taking a professional approach. I would suggest something along the lines of "HEY ASS-HAT, SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I AM GOING TO STAPLE YOUR LIPS SHUT".

Alternately, an open hand slap squarely to the back of the head (a slightly cupped hand works best) should, based on newtonian laws of motion, send the chicklet squarely to the back of his throat. Depending on his gag reflex, you should be able to make a hasty egress from the crime scene before he rebounds from the pimp-slap.

I like the "Ask him for a piece" solution. Nothing a habitual gum chewer hates more than the "shell out a piece or look like an ass" dilemma. I bet he'd start chewing very quietly after that.

This should solve your problem. Put a big wad in your lower lip, chew like a heffer and start drooling in his general direction.

It's a passive-aggressive way to get your point across.

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