Navigating Quirky Coworkers: Tips for Maintaining Sanity in the Workplace

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around experiences with quirky coworkers in various workplace settings. Participants share anecdotes about unusual behaviors and the challenges they present, touching on themes of workplace dynamics and personal coping strategies.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants describe coworkers with distracting habits, such as whistling poorly or popping gum during meetings.
  • One participant recounts a coworker who frequently acted out Chris Rock's routines, which became disruptive in a lab environment.
  • Another shares a story about a coworker referred to as the "cropduster," suggesting potential digestive issues that affected the office atmosphere.
  • Several participants express humor about their own quirks or those of their coworkers, including typing with their nose after a night out.
  • One participant mentions a coworker who brought dead bodies into the office, highlighting extreme examples of quirky behavior.
  • Another shares a story about a manager who had peculiar habits that made collaboration difficult.
  • Some participants reflect on the idea that everyone has their own "operating systems," leading to compatibility issues in the workplace.
  • One participant suggests that having plants in the office could create a more pleasant environment, referencing a coworker who grew seeds indoors.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that quirky coworkers exist and can impact the workplace environment, but there is no consensus on how to best handle these situations. Multiple competing views on the nature and management of quirky behaviors remain unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include varying definitions of what constitutes "quirky" behavior and the subjective nature of personal experiences in workplace dynamics.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in workplace culture, human behavior in professional settings, or those seeking to relate to shared experiences of dealing with unique coworkers.

lisab
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I'm lucky that, in general, I work with people who are easy to get along with, fun, and really smart. But, in any crowd there's always that one, isn't there...?

Currently I work with a guy who whistles ALL THE TIME...poorly. I can usually avoid him but not always.

In my previous workplace, the quirky one was the HR manager. She would sit at the back of the room during safety meetings and pop her gum every 4 seconds. And she was a manager?

My worst quirky coworker was a guy I worked with several years ago. He had memorized all of Chris Rock's routines and would constantly act them out, every day. This was harder to put up with, since the instruments had to stay in the lab, and I couldn't take my work elsewhere. People would tell him to knock it off, we all know Chris Rock's routines...it was like he couldn't stop himself, and couldn't interact with people any other way. The guy had issues.

Anyone work with quirky coworkers?
 
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lisab said:
I'm lucky that, in general, I work with people who are easy to get along with, fun, and really smart. But, in any crowd there's always that one, isn't there...?

Currently I work with a guy who whistles ALL THE TIME...poorly. I can usually avoid him but not always.

In my previous workplace, the quirky one was the HR manager. She would sit at the back of the room during safety meetings and pop her gum every 4 seconds. And she was a manager?

My worst quirky coworker was a guy I worked with several years ago. He had memorized all of Chris Rock's routines and would constantly act them out, every day. This was harder to put up with, since the instruments had to stay in the lab, and I couldn't take my work elsewhere. People would tell him to knock it off, we all know Chris Rock's routines...it was like he couldn't stop himself, and couldn't interact with people any other way. The guy had issues.

Anyone work with quirky coworkers?

AHAHAH chris rock routines. I am sure that goes real well in the work place, n'word this, f'word that, f' f' f', ahhahaha.
 
lisab said:
I'm lucky that, in general, I work with people who are easy to get along with, fun, and really smart. But, in any crowd there's always that one, isn't there...?

Currently I work with a guy who whistles ALL THE TIME...poorly. I can usually avoid him but not always.

In my previous workplace, the quirky one was the HR manager. She would sit at the back of the room during safety meetings and pop her gum every 4 seconds. And she was a manager?

My worst quirky coworker was a guy I worked with several years ago. He had memorized all of Chris Rock's routines and would constantly act them out, every day. This was harder to put up with, since the instruments had to stay in the lab, and I couldn't take my work elsewhere. People would tell him to knock it off, we all know Chris Rock's routines...it was like he couldn't stop himself, and couldn't interact with people any other way. The guy had issues.

Anyone work with quirky coworkers?

I guess I never told you that story about the "cropduster" I had to share an office with?

I also had a whistler next door who drove me crazy. I complained and complained and complained. My boss finally went over and talked to him and things got better.
 
Cyrus said:
AHAHAH chris rock routines. I am sure that goes real well in the work place, n'word this, f'word that, f' f' f', ahhahaha.

We would always worry what he might say when tour groups came through.
 
Math Is Hard said:
I guess I never told you that story about the "cropduster" I had to share an office with?

I also had a whistler next door who drove me crazy. I complained and complained and complained. My boss finally went over and talked to him and things got better.

Cropduster? Did he have an ordor issue?
 
lisab said:
Cropduster? Did he have an ordor issue?

I think it was a digestive problem. Or maybe dietary. Too many beans or something.
 
Math Is Hard said:
I think it was a digestive problem. Or maybe dietary. Too many beans or something.

So he was an awful whistler too?
 
lisab said:
Anyone work with quirky coworkers?

Most of the people where I work say they work with a quirky coworker, but I haven't met him yet.
 
I don't have any quirky coworkers, I'm the quirky coworker. :biggrin:

I've had a few in the past, but I think I've blocked them from my memory, because no specific examples come to mind.
 
  • #10
lisab said:
I'm lucky that, in general, I work with people who are easy to get along with, fun, and really smart. But, in any crowd there's always that one, isn't there...?

Currently I work with a guy who whistles ALL THE TIME...poorly. I can usually avoid him but not always.

In my previous workplace, the quirky one was the HR manager. She would sit at the back of the room during safety meetings and pop her gum every 4 seconds. And she was a manager?

My worst quirky coworker was a guy I worked with several years ago. He had memorized all of Chris Rock's routines and would constantly act them out, every day. This was harder to put up with, since the instruments had to stay in the lab, and I couldn't take my work elsewhere. People would tell him to knock it off, we all know Chris Rock's routines...it was like he couldn't stop himself, and couldn't interact with people any other way. The guy had issues.

Anyone work with quirky coworkers?

I had one who dried her pantyhose in the film drier in my Medical Illustration department. It was this metal mesh (not really) support stuff that just reeked up the whole room to high heaven. She was English of course. I never figured out why it smelled so bad in there until I caught her having morning tea waiting to finish dressing and start the day.

I can't say I'm any better. Sometimes I'd type with my nose after a long night of too much fun. kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkhjkkkhhhhhhh
 
  • #11
lisab said:
Anyone work with quirky coworkers?

Yes, my coworker brings dead bodies into the office.
 
  • #12


HAHAHAH.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #15
baywax said:
I can't say I'm any better. Sometimes I'd type with my nose after a long night of too much fun. kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkhjkkkhhhhhhh

You must have a pretty big dimple in your nose. I can't get from k to h without hitting the j.
 
  • #16
My office at my old job was next door to an office room that was jinxed. All the guys (managers) who worked in that office didn't more than 5 years or so, but one in particular was downright weird.

This weird guy would walk from his office to the computer room which was across the hall from my office, and he would stop in the doorway of my office, sigh, and say "yep, yep, yep, . . . <sigh>" I usually refrained from responding because it would usually invite an inane comment. :rolleyes: He was finally let go, because no one could work with him, and even though he was a manager, someone usually had to direct his work, and that was often me.
 
  • #17
it seems as if we each come bundled with our own slightly different "operating systems," doesn't it? i suppose the trick is to get compatible versions under one roof working together. at least that's what they tell us. occassionally, however, there's a slip up and you get one that's 'special.'

we had one years ago that had a big outside interest in gardening and started a lot of seeds and cuttings indoors, in the office, in their cube. come to think of it, it was actually fun going there and seeing all that green popping up. it was kind of a relaxing change of pace. come to think of it, maybe more offices should apply the concept.
 
  • #18
runner said:
it seems as if we each come bundled with our own slightly different "operating systems," doesn't it? i suppose the trick is to get compatible versions under one roof working together. at least that's what they tell us. occassionally, however, there's a slip up and you get one that's 'special.'

we had one years ago that had a big outside interest in gardening and started a lot of seeds and cuttings indoors, in the office, in their cube. come to think of it, it was actually fun going there and seeing all that green popping up. it was kind of a relaxing change of pace. come to think of it, maybe more offices should apply the concept.

Ha. You've reminded me of another quirkiness in an associate worker.

I was in the Movie Biz for 6 years and one of my Teamsters always brought his little dog to work. There was no way to part him from it and the Teamsters can be very protective of their own. One day things got very bad because the dog was "going" all over the very expensive stuff I was hauling to a very expensive set (with Sidney Poitier and Tom Beringer). That wasn't the worst of the quirkiness... this professional, highly trained driver of trucks (teamster) also ran out of gas along the way. This was bad because we were renting a whole Freighter to anchor just within camera shot of our set for $10,000 every 6 hours. Arf.
 
  • #19
Astronuc said:
My office at my old job was next door to an office room that was jinxed. All the guys (managers) who worked in that office didn't more than 5 years or so, but one in particular was downright weird.

This weird guy would walk from his office to the computer room which was across the hall from my office, and he would stop in the doorway of my office, sigh, and say "yep, yep, yep, . . . <sigh>" I usually refrained from responding because it would usually invite an inane comment. :rolleyes: He was finally let go, because no one could work with him, and even though he was a manager, someone usually had to direct his work, and that was often me.

:smile: That reminds me of one of the muppets...one of them would say nothing but "yep yep yep"!

Oh, I just remembered a really creepy guy I used to work with! When a "new" woman was around, would follow her while jingling the change in his pocket. As he did this he would sort of...um...well, no other way to put it...grunt. Yuck.
 
  • #20
lisab said:
:smile: That reminds me of one of the muppets...one of them would say nothing but "yep yep yep"!

Oh, I just remembered a really creepy guy I used to work with! When a "new" woman was around, would follow her while jingling the change in his pocket. As he did this he would sort of...um...well, no other way to put it...grunt. Yuck.

Jingle Jingle Jingle...HHHHHRUMPHHHHH...... <shakes head side to side> huh?
 
  • #21
Ivan Seeking said:
Yes, my coworker brings dead bodies into the office.

What is your cat's title or position?
 
  • #22
Title: Grand overlord.

Position: Anywhere it pleases.
 
  • #23
When I was in IT I think I met some of the most awkward people ever. They took quirky to a new level.
 
  • #24
mirroredfire said:
When I was in IT I think I met some of the most awkward people ever. They took quirky to a new level.

Were they the kind of people that were very vague and left you hangin?
 
  • #25
moose said:
Were they the kind of people that were very vague and left you hangin?

Sometimes it was that, like really short statements that would make you be like uhhhh... okaaayyy.

A lot of laughter over stuff that wasn't really funny, I realize in some instances when you know a lot more than someone else something can be funny to you and not the crowd, but that wasn't what was happening here... it was just weird. I know a few engineers and none of them are like these people were.
 
  • #26
mirroredfire said:
Sometimes it was that, like really short statements that would make you be like uhhhh... okaaayyy.

A lot of laughter over stuff that wasn't really funny, I realize in some instances when you know a lot more than someone else something can be funny to you and not the crowd, but that wasn't what was happening here... it was just weird. I know a few engineers and none of them are like these people were.

Wow, I don't know exactly why but that made me laugh so hard I choked!

I think the next time I'm in a meeting I'll use, "Uhhhh...okaaayyy." :smile:
 
  • #27
lisab said:
:smile: That reminds me of one of the muppets...one of them would say nothing but "yep yep yep"!

Oh, I just remembered a really creepy guy I used to work with! When a "new" woman was around, would follow her while jingling the change in his pocket. As he did this he would sort of...um...well, no other way to put it...grunt. Yuck.

Playing pockey pool, perchance?
 
  • #28
My whistling coworker was fired last week...I am no longer Whistler's Coworker...
 
  • #29
lisab said:
My whistling coworker was fired last week...I am no longer Whistler's Coworker...
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/6785/pyrodancepleaseft2.gif
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #30
lisab said:
My whistling coworker was fired last week...I am no longer Whistler's Coworker...

What did he get fired for?
 

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