To hate it when you work in an office and someone will suddenly laugh/moan/gasp and expect you to ask 'oh, what is it'?

[angelos02]

Drives me mad. If you have something to say, just come out with it. I find it so irritating. It is never anything interesting as the type of people that do this never are.

More I hate those that do the loud laugh or gasp etc and then if you enquire as to what it is that illicited such a response then you're classed as nosey.

My DH does this just across the room when reading on the 'net.

I think I would make a point of deliberately not saying anything, and hope the message got through that I am very happy for a colleague to be surprised/amused/shocked all on his or her own. Assuming, that is, they haven't just received bad news via email - that they're just looking at a photoshopped picture of a baby smoking or a cute kitten in a hat something.

(Having said that, I've never worked in a typical collective office situation, and lots of the threads on here about collegial behaviour and whiparound for birthday cards and stuff is completely foreign to me.)

It's like the attention-seeking Facebook updates.... "I've had it with people today"... .expecting the "Aahh what's up hun?" responses.

Burren I've tried ignoring it but the message isn't getting across. Colleague still tells me what she is laughing etc about. Tis never funny. I just glance over, give a polite 'Oh, OK' and look back at my screen. Some people can't read others at all.

An old neighbour of mine used to do things like that, say or do something really dramatic and then huff and puff and sigh when I asked about it, when it was perfectly obvious she wanted to talk.

So I took the route of ignoring it, which was much more fun, she would dramatically sigh, or say to herself 'oh my goodness, what will I do' and I would remain silent, or, the thing that pissed her off the most, was when she tried the dramatic approach so I would be all concerned for her, but then I started talking about myself or my dc, watching her struggle to turn the conversation back to her was hilarious.

I miss her

Oh god, I hate this too. I have a colleague to does the sighing, gasping thing and I totally ignore her. She's desperate to talk about whatever it is and willl continue until she realises I'm not going to ask and she tells me anyway. I could happily launch a stapler at her head.

I think I occasionally make involuntary noises of the laugh/gasp variety - sometimes in other people's presence, even! It's because I'm not a robot, rather than due to any attention-seeking impulse. Though I don't work in an office, you'll be relieved to hear.

Perhaps you should think about finding a job working where other people aren't, if you find yourself annoyed by any noise they make at all.

It is particularly annoying when they gasp as if something really awful/amazing has happened and it is fuck all. I do my best underwhelmed face.

Everything is a drama with my colleague. There are days when I feel I'm in the Jeremy Kyle audience. She constantly harps on about her inbred relatives and stuff she really shouldn't be getting involved in. Complete attention seeker. I'd love to work from home!

I work with one of them

It's like the attention-seeking Facebook updates.... "I've had it with people today"... .expecting the "Aahh what's up hun?" responses. Even worse when you bite and say "What's up?" and they say "Oh, I can't really say on FB." Ahhhhh, why put it up there then you attention seeking fuck wit!

I find it very easy to ignore such people and have to stifle a smile as they get louder and louder and become more obvious! They're so bloody boring!

To those who say they don't have one of these poeple in their office, it's because it's YOU

I depends who it is tbh. If someone I usually like then it doesn't bother me but if it's from the ginja ninja however it makes my teeth itch.

I can't remember where I heard it, but apparently we laugh to signal to others that we get the humour - it's rare to laugh when you're on your own (rare as in your less likely to chortle through a film as much if you're watching it alone), so I agree making constant random noises like gasps, huffs and puffs or laughing is seeking out people to communicate it to (attention seeking).

I have to admit that even with people I like it becomes something I have to tolerate. If I general don't like someone it makes me rage inside. One woman where I work might as well be a guinea pig with all the random squeaks and huffing she does - no volume control either.

My DH does it. His mum does it. I ignore it. They leave big silences, followed by another dramatic noise with a sideways glance. I ignore it

DH has received sufficient training now to just drop it. MIL implodes

When they have finished telling you their 'interesting' story, 99% of the time I think, why on EARTH do you think you needed to tell me that.

I feel your pain ... I've got one of these! She strops up and stands in front of you sighing/hyperventilating/muttering to herself until you ask what the matter is then she looks smug and says she can't tell you!

One of these days I'm going to staple her head ( evil bitch emporeress with a plus-ten stapler of power emoticon )

What?

Make that evil-bitch-queen, it has fewer letters ...

Where is this mystical place of employment that doesn't involve having to be around other bastarding humans??
Sign me up!

I actually work on my own most of the time ... Huffington Pest migrates from her office to annoy me!

Oh OP I feel your pain it drives me utterly insane.

I usually say dead pan "gosh, how fascinating".

Yanbu. I hate this. I've only just started working in an office and I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Do the people who do it want asking then? I haven't been. Didn't want to seem nosy but now probably look unfriendly