To think it’s not that weird and filthy to sit on a desk?

[BriceNobeslovesMurielHeslop]

i work in a environment where often people are coming and going, there are often impromptu meetings with several people who have come from different departments, and often chairs go missing and never come back.
it isn’t that unusual for somebody to sit on a desk or table over the course of the day. This incenses two of my colleagues- according to them it is a disgusting thing to do. They have actually been found shouting at colleagues because of it.
I have never come across this before- is it a thing? If it was one person I would assume it was just a foible but two makes me wonder if this is a thing that some people really think.
YABU- your colleagues are right- it is disgusting and unhygienic
YANBU- your colleagues are being odd.

Are they shitting on them or something?

I imagine a clothed backside is far cleaner than various hands/spit globules from talking all over the desk so don't see how it's disgusting for someone to perch on a desk to chat to someone for a few mins! What do they think is being transferred through layers of clothes and underwear?

Are the sitters naked?
wouldn’t bother me otherwise.

I wouldn't say it's weird or filthy, but on the other hand I wouldn't want someone's arse parked on my desk. I think it's human nature to be a bit territorial about our work spaces. Sitting on own desk, OK, sitting on other people's, not OK.

I’d be worried if it was Amber Heard

@Hugasauras there is a definite implication that it is the bum to desk interface that is the problem, and the potential of poop transference therein.
The fact that everybody has at least pants and bottoms on matters not a jot 😕

@Hollyhocksarenotmessy - it’s a hospital. We are almost exclusively hotdesking, working at COWs, etc.

Are they concerned about fart particles (“farticles”), which are probably smaller than the weave of fabric? Because those will get on desks regardless of sitting – although sitting is likely cause a sideways expulsion of farticles, as they can’t travel through desk matter. Could some kind of bum mask be utilised.

Your shouty colleagues are insane. Hope that helps.

I'd assume they were a bit thick and ask them to articulate the exact problem

Definitely the colleagues that are insane. It’s perfectly normal in my office to wander in to someone’s room and perch on a desk if there’s not a chair available.

If they've sat in something, then yes, it's gross. Otherwise who gives a toss

I'm still traumatised from the time a man in rather too tight trousers sat in my desk, the eye levels were all wrong. Maybe that's what they mean by "disgusting"?

My mum always got very upset about sitting on kitchen surfaces for hygiene reasons and I suppose if they're eating at their desks it's much the same?

I would sit on a desk if that was the only place to park myself in an impromptu meeting though, although I think prop rather than actually sit on it with legs dangling.

"there is a definite implication that it is the bum to desk interface that is the problem, and the potential of poop transference therein."

Why on earth would sitting on a desk result in "poop transference"? That's really bizarre. I can't fathom why anyone would think such a thing. Everyone is fully clothed so why is it a worry?

Farticulate

As a teacher I sit on children's desks all the time when they're not sitting at it, although I don't when they're actually sitting there, as who wants someone's bum a few centimetres from where you're working? But if no-one is trying to work while someone sits next to them, I don't see a problem.

It would be interesting to hear from one of the (so far) 14% who have voted YABU to see what they think.
(Sorry, at work just now, will reply more fully later)

Sheer curiosity, as it's not important, but why do you need to sit on children's desks "all the time" when they're not there? I'm a bit puzzled by that.

I would understand the problem if it was me sitting on the desk as there'd be no room for anything else, but normally I wouldn't see a problem

😂'bum to desk interface'

And really, must you be so crude? It's bottom or posterior, not bum.

I’m a health care professional, I’ll have you know, and we say bum all time 🧐😁

We don’t ever sit in desks or tables. Part of our culture.

Surely the obvious thing is to give the desk a quick clean afterwards 🤷🏽‍♀️

If someone is working with ill patients I can see there point potentially spreading germs. Nothing to scream and shout about though!

@RandomMess surely since we work in a hospital that is true of our whole uniforms and person. In fact by the end of a typical day I’d think the seat of my trews was one of my more germ- free areas

Brice, it's a sad reflection on our Health Service but I suppose it's unsurprising that people who sit on desks, or condone it, also use the word bum willy-nilly. I suppose I should say penis-nilly actually.