Attention seeking woman at work driving me insane

[Gloc]

Name changed as outing to anyone that works with her!

She’s driving me insane, seriously - to the point where I have urges to shout at her or literally walk out. Shes so loud, constantly shouting and screaming. She’ll literally scream all of a sudden, waits for everyone to ask what’s wrong and then will say “I’m just so bored!” Or “I’ve just remembered it’s pizza for tea!” Or some other stupid shit.

She’ll randomly throw her papers up in the air and say “it’s stressing me out!” And everyone laughs. What exactly is funny about that?? Maybe the first time I’d laugh but when it’s a weekly thing - not so much

On Friday she suddenly slammed her laptop shut and screamed. Of course everyone was like “what?? What??” And she’s sat there lapping up the attention before declaring “I’ve just seen that my favourite band are touring”. Everyone laughed and said “Jesus I thought it was something serious”. It’s never serious, it’s always something stupid.

She’ll get up and suddenly start dancing - even getting up on the tables etc. at Christmas she brought in a load of those dancing snowmen/santas/clapping monkeys etc, set them up all around the office and turned them all on together. The voice was unbearable. The manager made her get rid of them in the end so she screamed and pretended to cry.

The woman infuriates me. I don’t even know why she annoys me so much. I seem to be the only one not laughing! Before anyone says I’m jealous, trust me - I’m the most introverted person ever, the last thing I want is to be centre of attention

She’s actually making me consider changing my job. I can’t stand it. I’m literally dreading going in tomorrow.

I think I’d be putting a landmine on her office chair

It sounds like she has a personality disorder.

She actually sounds unhinged...

Yep, literally horror movie scream. It’s piercing. People actually cover their ears and duck! It’s ridiculous

It's just ridiculous.

You talk to your manager tomorrow. HR. Anyone who will listen. You explain your mental health is being affected.

Tell them you can only work from home.

List and details every example.

Nobody should be behaving like that in a work place but you have a management problem as well.

Laughed so hard reading this and it would drive me absolutely nuts too. Also, on the occasions I've uncovered such monsters myself (including online!) the supportive and participation reactions of their acolytes/laugh-gang make me cringe in equal measure 😬

I don’t know her, but I hate her. Plant drugs on her OP then report her - joking (but not) lol

@Gloc

Just ignore. Grey rock. Give her nothing. Get everyone in the office to do the same. Ignore, ignore, ignore. She is not there. There is no noise. Let her escalate to the point that management has to step in and ask her to climb down from the desks, stop dancing, screaming, banging company eqiupment and fire her on the spot.

Sounds like she hasn't got enough to do. Can it be suggested that her workload is increased to stave off her boredom?

Club together and send the poor woman sight seeing in a chapel...

Nothing but empathy here, thought we were working with the same person.

It's fucking relentless. I've spent too long wishing for another lockdown to return to WFH to avoid it.

I’ve never worked with anyone like this.

Has she always behaved like this or is it a fairly new thing? Shockingly unprofessional behaviour and she’s making herself look unhinged.

I’d write down some bullet point examples and speak to your manager. The screaming would put most people’s nerves on edge or otherwise affect them. In an ideal world I’d like to record her and tell HR to listen but that would get you into trouble.

I can't believe that your colleagues pander to her. Who can possibly find such behaviour amusing?

This is exactly what I would do. I’d raise it with management but then grey rock all the way. Blank stares if she tried to get in my face. Never ever respond. I’m really good at doing this with demented colleagues.

You need to get everyone to behave in a similar fashion. It’ll drive her insane and she’ll leave.

Her behaviour is really childish so I’d be tempted to respond to her behaviour as the adult in the room. “Why did you do that?” “Did you mean to scream? Why?” Etc etc. as if you want to understand what she’s done then she has to go some way to explaining it rationally. Her reflecting and explaining it (even if she tries to do so in a dramatic way) will take some of the air out of whatever OTT thing she did to begin with.

Can you wear massive headphones?

Perhaps she is not feeling well, mentally?

This is the best advice I think. Can you work from home? Would you want to?

I’d would also say, every time it happens, ‘please stop screaming’. Nothing else, just that. If she asks why etc ‘I am at work’ repeatedly. No other comment. It would drive home the ‘you’re mentalist behaviour is unnecessary because WE ARE AT WORK’.

There's a few of these people in my work too! One of them shouts down the phone to people to make sure everyone can hear her so they ask her about it after thinking she's Billy big balls. I think there's usually at least one in most work places!

Next time she screams, slap her really hard and say, there got the wasp, you can crack on with work again now.

God, imagine being her parents and dealing with a child that did that sort of screaming and attention seeking…right up to being in her 40s. I’d have to say something, OP. Along the lines of ‘Why on earth are you screaming like that over nothing in an office space? Seriously - why????’

I'd go to manager too about it. She sounds like a complete head case. I'd probably have flipped by now, the screaming would have brought on a migraine for me as it's done so in the past. I would really struggle to not show my distaste for her

i can see why they would be distracting, but personally id consider the colleague intriguing