Originally posted by: krunchykrome
I'll try the making a phone call thing though.
The funny thing is that something like this would seem like a very rude thing to do, but you'll be amazed by the fact that no matter how rude you are, people like this will not key into it and they'll just keep yammering on.
There were times when I'd be walking down the hallway and I'd encounter the aforementioned coworker. We'd make eye contact and I'd literally do a 180 and get away from him.
This would offend most people, but to someone who's stuck in their own little world and thinks the rest of us were placed here to act as a set of ears into which they can b1tch, moan, and unload, it's nothing.
One of my other coworkers always got a kick out of my attempts to avoid conversation with this guy though. It's actually pretty funny when you see someone start talking to someone else, and while in mid-sentence, that someone turns their back, picks up the phone, and starts talking to an imaginary person. It doesn't get much less subtle than that!
Here are all of the things I tried (unsuccessfully, I might add):
Annoying Coworker: "Hey jbourne77 my wife is a wh0re, my daughter hates me, and I'm getting a NullPointerException that I can't figure out."
jbourne77-a: *swivels chair back around to desk and continues working*
jbourne77-b: *swivels chair back around to desk and makes phone call*
jbourne77-c: *gets up and leaves*
jbourne77-d: *glances beyond Annoying Coworker and initiates conversation with person situated behind Annoying Coworker*
jbourne77-e: *interrupts Annoying Coworker* "I don't know"
jbourne77-f: *interrupts Annoying Coworker* "I don't care"
jbourne77-g: *interrupts Annoying Coworker* "I'm not interested"
jbourne77-h: *interrupts Annoying Coworker* "No one is interested"
jbourne77-i: *interrupts Annoying Coworker* "You're still here?"
jbourne77-j: *interrupts Annoying Coworker* "How are you still here?"
jbourne77-k: *interrupts Annoying Coworker* "Who is responsible for you still being here?"
jbourne77-l: *interrupts Annoying Coworker* "We should be allowed to bring firearms to work"
You can come up with a million ways to entertain yourself and others around you in these situations, but you need to go into it with the proper mindset: knowing deep down that it's not really going to accomplish anything outside of your own little amusement.