To report the cleaner

[EmotionalLimbo]

I'm a PhD student and work in a doctoral school office with several other researchers, all doing our own thing. It's a wonderful quiet space and we're very lucky.

Well quiet that is until the bins are emptied every afternoon. I'm not sure if the person who comes in is a cleaner because I've never seen her do any cleaning in this office but she might do in other parts of the building.

She's just so loud. She's talking on the phone using Bluetooth earpieces so it looks like she's talking to herself. It's so distracting and it's not a work conversation because it's a foreign language.

I've contacted the estates people to ask them to tell her to stop as it's annoying everyone but nobody dare say anything. It's not my job to tackle her.

AIBU?

Exactly. The cleaner probably has zero idea that there might be an issue with her talking on her headset because in most offices there would be zero issue with her doing so.

Most offices are not silent retreats; people are having conversations all day and even the workers doing “thinking work” (like me) - are capable of tuning out this noise (or putting on noise-canceling headphones if they can’t tolerate it).

She spends 10m a day there, it most likely just hasn’t occurred to her that this is a special no-talking office and it wouldn’t be a big deal to to pull her aside to make her aware.

Indeed. A low key formal complaint. Once you involve the LM, you are kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

Imagine this casual note to the Director of Undergraduate Studies -

%Hi - EmotionalLimbo seems very nice in supervision but she doesn’t seem very clued in. She also doesn’t explain things well. Could you help us with this?^

Assume no student has spoken to you about any problem with the supervision.

Just relating a problem in a low key way, eh? Not a complaint.

@NeverDropYourMooncup , I'd find it distracting and what I do and how much I earn are not relevant.

It's not about them doing their job. It's about them having loud personal conversations on a daily basis. It's not about being special either and I'd expect everyone to have the common sense to realise that. I probably earn less than the cleaner. If that's relevant.

Jesus, you hard cow

@EmotionalLimbo How much of an asshole are you, OP?

I bet it's only an issue when the cleaner does it, and not an issue when one of your coworkers decides to have a random conversation.

And even phd didn’t help you to come up with some smart request which you could use to ask her to be less loud?

👍

This.

You understand it's her workplace too, right?

Except the OP is not at work in an open plan office. She's 'working' ie, studying, writing, in a quiet space for that purpose. Very different situation, like a library, not a call centre.

If you're all busy, reading, writing, all that can be heard is the soft scratch of a pen or soft click of laptop keyboards and someone marches in holding a loud phone conversation (regardless of language!), that is very disturbing and distracting and can really knock you out of the 'zone'. Which is why libraries, universities etc have quiet spaces for study/research!

So, you're jealous of the cleaner? Who earns so much more than you?

I was wondering about this, also. I’ve never known an office of doctoral students to be entirely silent to say the least, and my field has a particular reputation for nerdiness.

@EmotionalLimbo why did you start this thread given that nobody in the “real world” seems to have raised an issue with you reporting the cleaner?

There must have been some kind of doubt in your mind about your actions to start a thread asking AIBU, but you seem totally unwilling to engage with the possibility that you made the wrong call.

And that they have people to talk to

maybe.. 😹

OP indicated she was the one put forward to deal with it

poor cleaner

You want to get her into trouble? Why? As another poster said why don't you just ask her?

There have been some nasty threads recently made by people who seem bitter that their lives haven't gone the way they want them to and wanting to pick on someone, usually someone they see as being lower down the food chain. They seem to get satisfaction from reporting people for this and that. Sad.

and someone marches in holding a loud phone conversation

I feel confident she just walks in like every other person does.

I think YABU because by reporting her it may end up being unnecessarily escalated and she could lose her job.
Perhaps next time in a scenario like this, just go over to her and say: 'Hi, how are you? Thanks for doing the bins for us every day! I'm so sorry and I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but this is a really quiet office and we're all getting distracted when you come in on the phone. Would you mind not talking on the phone when you're cleaning this office? Thank you!'

@CamillaMcCauley , people having a conversation on a mobile can be much louder than they think they are.

She also deserves to work in a suitable environment, without creepy weirdos looking down their noses at her for "speaking foreign'

It is about being special if you won't tolerate somebody having a conversation whilst working (which could very easily be with a colleague about which section needs a deeper clean or where the scissor sweep heads are in the cupboard in any case) when plenty of us are capable of not feeling affronted by their existence.

I'd be very surprised if you're on less than £25 a day, though.

OP you have to exist in the world with other people. Sometimes they will be mildly annoying. I’m sorry but that’s part of human existence whether ND or not. I guarantee you do something others find annoying.

True, but what’s the issue with politely making them aware?

I can’t believe people here are calling you weird because of that. Either tell the cleaner yourself or make sure whoever supervise her to train her to be quieter and not on the phone when emptying the bins. I would be for sure bothered. Even in the bus I can’t stand when people are shouting on their phones. At a workplace I would not put up with it.