Male co-worker keeps turning our office radio down

[user1471867483]

I've been in my office job now for 9 years, my other co-worker 4 years and another 15 years. A male co-worker joined 18 months ago. We always have the radio on. However, a few weeks ago, when I wasn't there, he told my co-worker that he wanted the radio moved away from him, so she moved it closer to us. Now, today, I went to the toilet, came back, and the radio was turned down by him (my co-worker was present). She emailed me to say he turned it down as it was getting on his nerves. Ten minutes later I turned it back up again (as I am not allowing the newest one in the office taking over). Our boss allows us to have the radio and has done all these years. My co-worker said I'm ballsy to turn it up again, but why shouldn't I? He's the second newest in fgs. Was I wrong to turn it back up or something?

Why don't you just wear earphones so you can listen to what you want?

I used to work in an office where Heart FM was played and it drove me mental. Why should he have to listen to something he doesn't want to when it can be easily solved by people listening to what they want with earphones?

redraspberry · Today 09:24
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I'd be turning it up louder just because he's a man.
Thinking he be using his VIPenis to get his own way.”

I feel sorry for you. Must be difficult going through life hating half of the population.

Just because he's newer, doesn't afford him any less rights to be comfortable and able to concentrate at work. You sound very entitled and selfish to be honest. If you really are that bothered about having it on, get yourself some headphones.

Or you could wear the headphones and not create a noise disturbance in the workplace🤷‍♂️

I feel sorry for you. Must be difficult going through life hating half of the population.

Men manage, so can women.

As plenty of posters have pointed out they can’t cope with radio on its not a penis related condition

I hate radios on in the office, so I agree with your male colleague here. It was nasty of you to turn the radio up when you knew the noise bothered him and he had turned it down.

Would you feel the same if it's down to a disability?

You are an entitled nightmare, OP.

Someone struggles to work with the radio on. Radio being on is not essential to work. You put the headphones on.

YABU. People with ASD can sometimes find noise completely intolerable. You wouldn't know it but that's me. His right to silence for work trumps your right to nice radio, sorry - you can put it on your headphones if you want it on.

So your colleague is struggling with the radio on in an office environment and your reaction is to turn it up as you aren’t letting him get away with it as he hasn’t been there as long as you.

Don’t be a bully OP. It will come back to bite you.

God I don't miss having to listen to Boring FM all day when I worked in an office. It wouldn't be too bad if there was some variety, or everyone got a chance to pick a station every day. But no, we had a miserable old dinosaur who thought because she'd been there 15 years she was superior to all of us, so she got to choose what we listened to and at what volume. So it was Radio Trash all day every day at ten million decibels. If you turned it down she'd turn it back up. If you tried to change it she'd bite your head off.

Was that you OP by any chance?

I hope he submits a complaint to resolve it properly, not in the immature way you have gone about it.

I suffer from sensory overload and no way in hell could I work efficiently with radio noise all the time. I would also hate to work with someone so bullish, like yourself.

Years ago I managed an office team who couldn’t agree on the office temp. It got to the point where I had to hide the bloody aircon controller! These were women in their 50s and 60s. Unbelievable.

I find people wearing headphones in my office a barrier to work and social conversation. If he has to wear noise cancelling headphones, he can't hear anything people are saying which I wouldn't be happy with.

It's a place of work, it really doesn't need music playing. Having to listen to other people's music on the train really irritates me too...while we're at it! It's selfish to inflict your desire for noise on people that would prefer silence.

I could not get my work done in an office with a radio blaring. How can anyone concentrate with that noise? It's bad enough people having Teams meetings in the middle of an open plan office but at least they shut up eventually. It would be completely unheard of to have a radio on in the office in my field.

YABVVU - you are all there to work not socialise and if the continual noise interferes with that it needs to stop.

Absolutely, when he resigns citing your bullying behaviour as the reason OP, I hope you have a good explanation for your behaviour for management.

Why should he?? It is selfish to keep the radio on when someone else doesn't like it - despite however long they have worked there!

Oh this is awful. Genuinely. Why can't you make allowances for a newer colleague? You all have to work together, just saying "I was here first" is incredibly selfish. If you discussed it with him maybe you could reach a compromise where the radio is only on for certain periods of the day, for example. And why can't you have it at a lower volume, why did you have to turn it back up? I'm feeling stressed just reading and thinking about this.

Oh and he can't get noise cancelling headphones - how will he hear the fire alarm?

I have autism and background noise completely destroys my ability to think. My
mind can’t handle two competing streams of input, it runs away with the background noise and I can’t keep it on whatever I’m supposed to be doing. I can handle tasks with a low cognitive load in the presence of background noise, like grocery shopping or eating a meal. But I can’t do anything that requires any concentration or deep thought.

I also can’t separate voices from certain types of background noise, so if someone talks when the tv or radio is on I can’t understand them. I can manage better if it’s just instrumental music or environmental noise in the background, but separating singing or speaking voices on the tv or radio from speaking voices in the room is impossible for me.

I wouldn’t have disclosed this disability at interview, nor would I be legally required to. I’d expect a relatively quiet work environment as standard, or at the very least as a reasonable adjustment. Can’t imagine what I’d do if some horrible entitled person like the OP refused to accommodate my needs - probably quit and apply for constructive dismissal.

Never mind turning the radio down, I would have thrown it out of the bloody window! I have a lot of work to get through and I don't want to listen to inane radio chatter . If you must have noise while you work then pop some headphones on

I have a hearing impairment, I don't tell many people because I don't need to but it means I lip read a bit and struggle if there is radio/TV noise

It's really invasive to have someone playing a radio

I cannot believe you think you are right. Whether your boss allows it or not, and who has worked how many years is irrelevant. This is an office environment, for 3 of you radio on worked, for the fourth even if he is the newest, it doesn't. Office environment should not be disruptive to anyone irrespective of their work experience. You want radio on, you put on headphones and listen to it.

That would drive me crazy! I'd have turned the radio off.

I know that it’s a thing in some offices, but honestly, the radio playing in the background while we are working, talking to clients on the phone etc, is really unprofessional, imo.

You are your colleagues sound really unpleasant. Would hate to be the newbie in that environment.