At my old job, there was this woman who sat a few cubes down from me. She was constantly on a diet, and yet she always had junk food on her desk. Sure enough every morning she’d end up bringing her box of cookies or bag of chips over to my desk and ask me to ‘hide’ them from her. And just as sure, I’d end up scarfing down all the food myself and feeling gross by the end of the day.
This is an example of a toxic coworker–they can be perfectly nice people and easy to get along with, but they have some habit or trait that brings out the worst in you. There’s the smoker who knows you’re trying to quit but slips you cigarettes and asks you go on a smoke break with him. There’s the one who always plays music and makes you have to be the asshole who asks them to put on headphones.
Bottom line is–everyone has a toxic coworker. Tell us about yours! Email contact@savetheassistants.com and put “Toxic Coworker” as the subject line. We’ll publish some of our favorites.
That’s very similar to the secretary that works 3 cubes from me. She is on a medically supervised diet and it never fails, whatever kind of food or snack I have on my desk, she makes a point to tell me that this ingredient or that ingredient is toxic. She’s also constantly emailing me links to various diet sites or links to nutrition information. It’s incredibly annoying!
I sit next to a woman who eats baby carrots…all day…everyday, with her mouth open. She sounds like that machine that crushes boulders into powder.