Twice a week we publish problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy’s own insights. Here is the latest dilemma – what are your thoughts?
I work in a large open-plan office and a colleague of the same grade makes my working day much worse than it needs to be. She eats at her desk throughout the day, with the full range of sound and visual effects. It is mostly large amounts of fruit and veg starting when she arrives and then a predictable routine for the rest of the day.
It is the noise of what she is eating (very crunchy stuff) that annoys me. Perhaps I am more sensitive than most to people’s irritating habits but others have noticed it too. This, combined with nail biting, sneezing loudly onto the monitor or keyboard (these are shared as we hot-desk) and hiccupping loudly, leaves me unable to warm to her.
I can’t separate her bad habits from her as a person, and it makes me both annoyed with myself and not very friendly towards her.
What can I do to either reduce the problem or help me cope with it better?
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy’s and readers’ help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or to reply personally.
