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Constant coughing and throat clearing drive me up the wall. I despise working around most smokers as many of them have this unconscious, horrid smoker's cough t

by nkrisc 7y ago

Constant coughing and throat clearing drive me up the wall. I despise working around most smokers as many of them have this unconscious, horrid smoker's cough that they do a few times a minute on average, it seems (I haven't actually counted). But any constant throat clearing sets me off and I usually have to leave or I can't focus on anything. The type of throat clearing I'm talking about is when someone really just needs a good, deep cough but for whatever reason they won't, and are constantly doing this "Ah-hmmmm" sound. Once doesn't bother me. Every 30 seconds is maddening. More generally, I think this can be extrapolated to frequently recurring sounds with unpredictable intervals.

ChainOfFools 7y ago
non smoker here. I get an acute case of this after drinking milk or anything with high cold dairy content, and it drives me up the wall when _I_ do it. like my own body has turned uncooperative out of petty spite.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
t34543 7y ago
I can’t stand mastication noise. I must leave the area or drown it out, block any visible signs of eating, and take a few deep breaths.
- nkrisc 7y ago
  What's funny about this topic is that chewing sounds don't bother me at all! Not a bit. Yet some sounds drive me crazy.
- leetrout 7y ago
  Do you identify as someone that has misophonia?
  - t34543 7y ago
    Yes.
- jv22222 7y ago
  Same here, it drives me nuts. I just have to get away from it or drown it out with headphones asap.
organsnyder 7y ago
I'm often one of those people. Not a smoker, but a bunch of allergies as well as asthma. Allergy shots and inhalers have made a big difference, but some days can still be pretty bad.
- nkrisc 7y ago
  To be fair I don't necessarily begrudge them it, especially not in cases where it's a medical condition. I mean even with smokers there's not much they can do, the damage is done. Doesn't make it any less irritating though, but I know no one is doing it intentionally.
AceyMan 7y ago
So much this. A few years ago we had a Salesforce BA on site under a fairly long (1yr+) contract. He matched this 'partial cough' pattern exactly as you described it. I kept a clicker-counter at my desk and kept stats, and updated HR frequently with the numbers. They finally saw the light and allowed him to work from home for the remainder of his contract term. My productivity immediately bumped back up 20% …
nickysielicki 7y ago
I hate this too. The rational part of my brain can generally persuade me to believe that the person does not want to be coughing or sneezing or sniffling, and even though it's still distracting, I can forgive them for it and empathize. I'll even start to feel guilty for being annoyed in the first place. But all of that goes out the window when someone has developed a habit of obnoxiously and unnecessarily extending their involuntary sounds by activating their vocal chords. It's completely unforgivable to me.
ukyrgf 7y ago
A person at my work has developed a nose whistle whenever they inhale sharply to clear their nose. Sounds like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park. At first it was sparse and everyone kinda looked around like "hey get that booger out of your nose", but now they seem to have embraced it and walk around tooting their nose 5 times a minute.

by nkrisc 7y ago

ChainOfFools 7y ago

non smoker here. I get an acute case of this after drinking milk or anything with high cold dairy content, and it drives me up the wall when _I_ do it. like my own body has turned uncooperative out of petty spite.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

t34543 7y ago

I can’t stand mastication noise. I must leave the area or drown it out, block any visible signs of eating, and take a few deep breaths.

nkrisc 7y ago
What's funny about this topic is that chewing sounds don't bother me at all! Not a bit. Yet some sounds drive me crazy.
leetrout 7y ago
Do you identify as someone that has misophonia?
- t34543 7y ago
  Yes.
jv22222 7y ago
Same here, it drives me nuts. I just have to get away from it or drown it out with headphones asap.

organsnyder 7y ago

I'm often one of those people. Not a smoker, but a bunch of allergies as well as asthma. Allergy shots and inhalers have made a big difference, but some days can still be pretty bad.

nkrisc 7y ago
To be fair I don't necessarily begrudge them it, especially not in cases where it's a medical condition. I mean even with smokers there's not much they can do, the damage is done. Doesn't make it any less irritating though, but I know no one is doing it intentionally.

AceyMan 7y ago

So much this. A few years ago we had a Salesforce BA on site under a fairly long (1yr+) contract. He matched this 'partial cough' pattern exactly as you described it. I kept a clicker-counter at my desk and kept stats, and updated HR frequently with the numbers. They finally saw the light and allowed him to work from home for the remainder of his contract term. My productivity immediately bumped back up 20% …

nickysielicki 7y ago

I hate this too. The rational part of my brain can generally persuade me to believe that the person does not want to be coughing or sneezing or sniffling, and even though it's still distracting, I can forgive them for it and empathize. I'll even start to feel guilty for being annoyed in the first place. But all of that goes out the window when someone has developed a habit of obnoxiously and unnecessarily extending their involuntary sounds by activating their vocal chords. It's completely unforgivable to me.

ukyrgf 7y ago

A person at my work has developed a nose whistle whenever they inhale sharply to clear their nose. Sounds like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park. At first it was sparse and everyone kinda looked around like "hey get that booger out of your nose", but now they seem to have embraced it and walk around tooting their nose 5 times a minute.