Name changed for this just in case. Probably a vent more so than a problem solve…
I work in a small section of an open-plan office. We are in the centre and other sections have separate offices to the sides. Until recently, I was sitting beside a very loud woman. Screeching, singing, whooping, bouncing, phone videos, constant attention-seeking behaviours, occasional volatile behaviours etc. No boundaries and the kind who gets her whole social quota from the office. Other sections complained even though they could shut their doors to the noise, but nothing changed for more than a day and then she’d also make a loud fuss over being complained about.
I found the literal screaming and general distraction very difficult to cope with. I recently was finally able to move desk. I told my line manager that the general open-plan noise was hard for me, careful not to mention anyone, however she’s no idiot and would have understood the unspoken. So now I’m a bit away in a corner behind a pillar and it’s really taken the edge off.
The screaming woman is work besties with an uncouth man who sits opposite her. He fancies her and has mentionitis when she’s not around. She doesn’t fancy him but, as with everything, likes the attention. Man has made me a little uncomfortable since I started there a year ago. He’s quite rough, a messy drunk when they all go out, and he stares.
I appear to have offended noisy woman by moving away from her. (Any perceived lack of attention causes more attention-seeking behaviours. She’s already done pointed sniffs and hurt looks at me). She appears to be venting her grievances to staring man. In office yesterday (she was wfh), he was on his private phone to her, mumbling, asking her if she was okay, whilst staring at me. He had to turn his head right round to stare at me so it was obvious. When the call was finished, he turned the whole way around on his seat and did a dirty look at me.
I don’t need this passive-aggressive nonsense in an office. It’s a nice job, taken a year to feel settled there and I finally do after only a seat change. How do you handle this, I presume just ignore and wait for it to pass?