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> socially withdraw from officemates I'm trapped in a dystopian open-office nightmare as well. When somebody comes up and starts talking to the guy who sits n

> socially withdraw from officemates I'm trapped in a dystopian open-office nightmare as well. When somebody comes up and starts talking to the guy who sits next to me, right in my ear, it's distracting as hell. So when I'm considering talking to somebody else in the office, I take into account the fact that I'm going to be distracting all of the people within earshot of this conversation that they almost definitely don't care about. As a matter of politeness, I try to use chat tools so that I don't disrupt any more people than I need to. Of course, cubicle walls solves that problem and permits face-to-face conversation, but that's not worth a few extra bucks apparently.

bradknowles 8y ago
And thus, you are the rare gem that actually considers the outcome of your actions on others. In contrast, most people are totally happy to blather about mindlessly, without any thought or care at all about who they are bothering with their chatter.
- chiefalchemist 8y ago
  > "In contrast, most people..." 1) This isn't only at work, it's everywhere. Just yesterday I was wondering: When / how did walking around talking out loud to yourself (i.e., your phone) become normalized. How / why does having an unseen device in your hand or pocket make rude acceptable? 2) I also wonder how cultural this is? That is, is it only a USA thing? Are there cultures where this is less common? Where open plans might be doable, or at least less offensive?
  - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
    I'm not sure its 'rude'. If they were with someone and talking to them, it'd be fine. What's the difference? It seems odd; but every odd behavior we see is not rude.
    - chiefalchemist 8y ago
      Fair enough. I'll rephrase. Why does it make the usually unacceptable acceptable? Perhaps too often I'm on the wrong place at the wrong time but I hear plenty of half conversations in public (e.g., on the train) that would not happen if both parties were in the same row. Too much volume. Questionable subject matter. Far from urgent. The rest of us don't need to hear that. Do they?
      - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
        That part I'm on board with. Work conversations, kid conversations, spouse conversations that would never be aired in public otherwise, and now I'm privy to toilet-stopped-up issues on the bus.

bradknowles 8y ago

And thus, you are the rare gem that actually considers the outcome of your actions on others. In contrast, most people are totally happy to blather about mindlessly, without any thought or care at all about who they are bothering with their chatter.

chiefalchemist 8y ago
> "In contrast, most people..." 1) This isn't only at work, it's everywhere. Just yesterday I was wondering: When / how did walking around talking out loud to yourself (i.e., your phone) become normalized. How / why does having an unseen device in your hand or pocket make rude acceptable? 2) I also wonder how cultural this is? That is, is it only a USA thing? Are there cultures where this is less common? Where open plans might be doable, or at least less offensive?
- JoeAltmaier 8y ago
  I'm not sure its 'rude'. If they were with someone and talking to them, it'd be fine. What's the difference? It seems odd; but every odd behavior we see is not rude.
  - chiefalchemist 8y ago
    Fair enough. I'll rephrase. Why does it make the usually unacceptable acceptable? Perhaps too often I'm on the wrong place at the wrong time but I hear plenty of half conversations in public (e.g., on the train) that would not happen if both parties were in the same row. Too much volume. Questionable subject matter. Far from urgent. The rest of us don't need to hear that. Do they?
    - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
      That part I'm on board with. Work conversations, kid conversations, spouse conversations that would never be aired in public otherwise, and now I'm privy to toilet-stopped-up issues on the bus.