I have had this pet peeve since I was a teenager and still dealing with it in my 40’s. My family is well aware of my acute symptoms when listening to slurping, chomping, smacking, popping, and a mouth that’s chewing its cud. It’s not limited to gum… When I was a teenager I didn’t ask politely because I was annoyed and had no fear of holding back… But now as I have grown older… Why can’t I just do what I did back then??? Why is it okay for others to be so rude and I feel that I have to ask with my tail between my legs or in fear of retaliation (them chewing even louder)? uughhh

Sweet Lord!!!! Until today, when I received this blog from a co-worker; I felt like I was over reacting and I thought I was utterly alone. I transferred to a department stationed within another department, where the workers have been established for 8 yrs or so. It’s a warehouse type office; cubicles are our office walls and we have high ceilings. I work in the midst of older women and to be honest, we all know that women can be caddy.

This started in November when an older woman than I, who sits right next to me started cracking her gum first thing that morning. This was just the first day of many long days that now has turned into months… I am not exaggerating when I say; it seemed to crack every time her teeth came together. During the hours that this was going on, amongst trying to concentrate on my work I would: grab my temples, stand with my hands on my hips, pace my small cube, bend from the hips in hopes that the blood would rush to my ears to drown the sound, pace more, walk to the door of her cube just to turn back around and not say anything. Yes, homicidal thoughts started too…

I am known to my old co-workers of 3 years as the peace maker. If they had a problem they would come to me for advice. I am not a problem stirrer and decided to address this issue with a confidant. I wanted to handle this right so that I wouldn’t piss the woman off. I was told that it would be wise just to try to cope because there would be ramifications, even if I went to the supervisor. WHAT??? So, I just gritted my teeth and bared it… I even went and got an IPOD just so that I could drown the sound – I still heard the faintest cracking. I can’t tolerate it any longer. Seriously it’s affecting my health. I dread coming to work for the first time ever in 3 years. I carry the stress in my shoulders and have had a slight headache everyday for weeks. I of course couldn’t go to this woman because I was afraid of what she would do. I went to upper management. As my eyes filled with tears I explained my plight and asked for his help. He knew the name before I even spoke it. He had many complaints and said that I was right not to confront her. How sad is that?? Everyone tolerates this…Why? I am a single parent of 2 teenagers… why do I need to be subjected to undue stress when I live with it daily LOL

SOOOO… After 2 weeks or so of not getting a response, I finally had to confront her. I was ready to go postal. With my tail between my legs, with the softest and kindest voice that I could muster (I couldn’t hide my red angry face) I politely asked her if she would stop. As she looked at me, as though I were shit on her shoe, she said “I’ll try”. I said “I really appreciate it” again with the look she said “I said I’ll try”. That was the quietest day that I had in months.

Between her being away from her desk and me alternating my work between other locations; the cracking began again first thing this morning. I thought that I would just give her a friendly reminder and without my tail between my legs I said “Please remember the cracking of the gum” her response was “I JUST PUT IT IN!!!” I said that I understand but it drives me absolutely crazy (I guess I shouldn’t have admitted that right?) The whispers have now started; little quips are now being said… SERIOUSLY??? You would think that these people are in HIGH SCHOOL.

If any of you bloggers from “Is there a gum-chewing etiquette” have hiring and firing rights… fire them and hire me LOL I am a hard and silent worker

Well I’m back. Its been a long time since I had to deal with that annoying lady at my past job who smacked/popped her spearmint gum all day. Now at my new job I have to deal with a belcher. I thought the gum popping was bad, but I really think the constant belching is worse. Its not just your normal burp, most are loud, obnoxious, drawn out, and downright disgusting.

At least with the gum popping, my headphones/w music can easily drown out the sound, but the belches can still be heard through them and it instantly throws off my concentration. I even resorted to blowing/sighing loudly every time I hear the burps, but he wears headphones too, so he obviously doesn’t hear me.

Other than the belching, he is a very cool, nice guy and I fear that approaching him on the issue would cause more harm than good but the belching bothers me so much that I can barely get any work down and I make many mistakes having to “restart” every time I hear the belch.

My only other option other than complaining formally, is to find some GOOD noise canceling headphones, but they are a lot of money (most I’ve seen are over $200) and before i spend that kind of money I need to be sure they work.

Since the age of 8, I’ve been seeking professional help, and NOTHING has worked. I’ve seen psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, audiologists, school counselors, hypotists, and others. Nothing has helped. I have custom-fitted earplugs. I have ear plugs that blast white noise into my ear drum. I take a heavy dose of anxiety medication (Effexor XR). I’m 29 years old and still NOTHING has helped.

I’ve had to get off the subway and walk several miles to get home, just because of gum-snappers and sniffers. I’ve quit jobs because of the people I sat near (and by “near,” I mean anywhere on that floor, since I seem to have better hearing than even dogs!). In college I dropped classes because there were too many noises, and not enough “safe seats” in the classroom (i.e., the ones in the back corner, where I’m close to the fewest amount of people). I haven’t been to the movies in a years (popcorn and ice chewing = instant panic attack). I’ve broken into coworkers’ desks and thrown away their gum and hard candies when they’re not looking. I’ve broken up with boyfriends because they were always sniffing or they chewed with their mouth open. I’ve lost close friends because they thought I was just being a bitch or too uptight. At times, my own parents won’t even speak to me because they don’t understand that it’s the noise I’m bothered by, not them as a person.

Being at work is nearly impossible. It takes me twice as long to go everything. If someone is chewing gum, I have to drop everything and leave the room (and hide in the bathroom or walk aimlessly in the stairwell) until it stops. I have to stay late or take work home just to do my job. (I often wonder how much more successful I’d be if I didn’t have this problem……I know my productivity would go way up, at the very least!).

When the noises are happening (or if I even think they’re about to happen), my heart races, my face gets red, my chest tightens, I get really hot, sometimes my eyes even feel funny. It’s like I’m about to explode. And this happens regardless of the mood I’m in when the noise begins. Someone could tell me I’ve won the lottery, but if that person is chewing gum, then forget it, I’m having a panic attack.

Other sounds that set me off are: nail picking, knuckle cracking, eating with mouth open, the sound of people walking on the floor above me or up/down the stairs, heavy breathing, sniffing, coughing, throat-clearing….I could go on, but these are the worst.

And I’m not averse to all sound in general. You coudl plop me down in the middle of a busy intersection and I’d be fine (because I wouldn’t be able to hear any one person snapping gum or sniffing up snot!). In fact, “quiet” environments (libraries, offices, etc) scare me the most because every little sound is amplified.

Medication doesn’t work (although maybe it’d be even worse without it?). I’d have to be completely drugged up to NOT be bothered by noises…..and at that point, I wouldn’t be able to function. I’ve noticed that drinking alcohol helps, but again, you can’t function if you’re drunk!

I wish there were a way to turn your hearing on and off, I guess something like a hearing aid. So when I needed total quiet or I need to get “away” from a noise, I could turn the aid off and be completely deaf (and yes, the sight of someone chewing sets me off, too — but that’s much easier to aviod that the sound). And when I needed to hear something, I could turn it back on. But just knowing I could turn off my hearing when things got too bad would be a lifesaver. Literally.

Does anyone know of a product like this? I would pay thousands of dollars if it worked. I would do anything to get relief from this. Not a day goes by where I’m not stressed beyond belief over noises. I KNOW this condition is taking years and years off my life.

Thanks for listening

I sit in a pod of six cubes, with the partitions extending only about 18 inches up from the desktop. That means we all have a clear view of our neighbors. And that means that not only do I get to hear the twit popping bubbles next to me, but I also get to look over and see her poking her tongue out of her mouth, covered with gum, as she gets ready to do her blow-fish imitation for the entire office. The mornings are usually fine. It’s when she saunters back in from her hour-long lunch break (most of us don’t take breaks) that she stuffs a wad of gum in her face and starts chomping like a cow. In go the earbuds until she finishes. (My wife has suggested that perhaps Cow-Girl goes out for liquid lunches and starts chewing gum in the afternoons to cover up the alcohol on her breath. Wouldn’t surprise me.)

It’s not easy for me to listen to music when I’m working. I’m an editor, and I find the music distracting when I’m trying to focus. But the thing is, it’s *less* distracting than listening to Cow-Girl next to me, snapping her stupid bubbles.

Before I started jamming earbuds into my ear canals to drown her out, I’d make a point of smacking my mouse against my desk every time she cracked a bubble. If anyone asked, I’d just say my mouse wasn’t working. But Cow-Girl was oblivious. And I didn’t need the attention drawn to myself. Now I just make a point of quite dramatically yanking the buds out of my ears and tossing them down with disgust on my desk, as soon as she puts the gum in a wrapper and chucks it in the trash. She turns in my direction to throw her wad away, so I know she has to see me. She’s either too stupid to make the connection or doesn’t care.

I talked to my manager about this, but she’s as useless as Cow-Girl. My boss said that was outside her purview to do anything about. WTF? She’s the boss — of course she can do something about it. But then, my boss is like that. She can’t be bothered to act like a manager. The two people who have deigned to challenge her over her slackitude have been fired. And Cow-Girl is her pet employee, so I know nothing will ever be done about it. Plus, this is a very casual office, so most people probably view Cow-Girl’s chomping as nothing out of the ordinary. Me — I think it makes the perception of her IQ drop by a good 50 points.

As if all this weren’t annoying enough, I sit between my boss and Cow-Girl, and I can see both of them spending the majority of their days aimlessly surfing the Web while the rest of us bust our butts. Cow-Girl even throws in the irritating bonus of bouncing her leg ALL DAY LONG, so not only is she cracking her gum and stealing the company’s time, but she’s furiously bobbing up and down in her chair like a piston for eight hours. And then I get to hear (and see) her furiously clacking the keys on her keyboard as she composes epic-length personal e-mails and message-board posts all day. A more nerve-racking situation would be hard for me to fathom.

I get paid well for the kind of work I perform. The benefits are good, and jobs in my field aren’t exactly plentiful. So I keep my mouth shut, because I know that if I caused a scene, my passive-aggressive boss would turn it all around on me, especially if the target of my frustration turned out to be her pet. The good news is, my wife and I plan to move next spring, so I’m patiently counting down the months until I’m out of this toxic work environment.