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Napkins! A big pack of pretty napkins! A bottle of hand sanitizer! And a great smelling hand lotion!
Put them in a little basket and leave it on her desk when she's not there---anonymously. The hand lotion will make it seem like a nice girly gift. Better yet, make two baskets---one for her desk and one for yours. Or make a few baskets for the women in the immediate area. Whatever works best. Leave on the desks at night when nobody is there.
Maybe if she has napkins and sanitizer, she'll start using them! We can only hope!
If you have to, get your own bottle of hand sanitizer and use it every 10 seconds on your own hands. Wipe down your desk 10 times a day if you must. But leave her alone and mind your own business. Use headphones if you can't stand the noise, or go elsewhere when she is eating. Do not go to HR; she's not violating any rules and you'll just seem like a whiny tattle-tale.
Give her a pop up canister of handy wipes or nicely scented baby wipes.
They're easy to use and not as messy as a bottle of hand sanitizer IMO.
Maybe if you sneak a canister onto your own desk a few days earlier and sort of pretend they've been there all along she won't notice you're singling her out in any way, she'll just think you're sharing a handy tip.
Put a big smile on your face and say something like "Here Suzy, these are for you, I noticed you never seem to have a napkin handy when you need one, and I know how annoying that can be. I use these all the time."
Honestly? This woman and I used to share an office and I developed a persistent cough and was always sneezing. Once my company relocated to another building and we weren't near each other anymore, I rarely coughed or sneezed. Now, a few months ago, the woman decided to relo to the empty cube next to me and I'm sneezing and coughing again.
I used to think it was our former building, possible mold (we're in FL) or other. Now, I'm more convinced the woman has allergens on her or something.
I kid you not.
I believe this. I work at a couple of schools working w/ kids & it's really something how much someone in my position can get sick & I try my best to wipe surfaces down w/ Clorox wipes, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81
If you have to, get your own bottle of hand sanitizer and use it every 10 seconds on your own hands. Wipe down your desk 10 times a day if you must. But leave her alone and mind your own business. Use headphones if you can't stand the noise, or go elsewhere when she is eating. Do not go to HR; she's not violating any rules and you'll just seem like a whiny tattle-tale.
I tend to agree w/ this too. Maybe her seeing you do all this will hopefully give her a hint, but I doubt it. Some people no matter how old they are have zero sense!
Also, here's what I'd do: Can you put up some nice decorative thing(s) on the partition that separates the two of you so you don't have to physically see her, such as pictures, move your calendar over on that side, motivational poster, artwork, etc. Anything to not have to look at her.
PLUS, I'd seriously write an anonymous note on plain white paper in a different ink color than what I normally use & write in different printing, so she can't tell it's me saying, "WE'RE all disgusted seeing you sucking your licks & hearing you smacking your food & how rude it is." May like a group colleagues are saying this. Slip it on top of her desk the next time she steps away & try your best not to let anyone else see you put it on her desk. What's she going to do, have it fingerprinted & the writing analyzed to verify that you wrote it? I'd love to hear what happens once you do this.
Maybe make a joke out of it and see if she takes the hint? For example the next time she does it, smile, roll your eyes, and say loudly enough for her to here: "Oh there's Suzy sucking her fingers again!"
Or you could be nice and keep napkins at your own desk, and the next time she does it, offer her one. "Hey Suzy, I have some napkins over here. Would you like one?" I might try this one first, and if she declines, then try making a joke out of it the next time she does it.
I would be more irritated by the noise than the germs...everyone has germs on their hands and it's reasonable to want to wash/sanitize your hands regularly at work during the day, especially when using shared equipment.
I think it just sounds too trivial to actually go to hr about...she doesn't seem to be breaking any rules,unless there are rules regarding eating at your desk...
There are some unwritten rules of civilized people. This is not a third-world call center in "Crackistan" .
Others are right in saying that sometimes people have annoying habits that you have to put up with but in this case she is being unsanitary so it is your business. They are spreading more germs than necessary by putting their hands in their mouth and touching papers, memos, copiers, etc.
All the ideas presented here are valid, IMO. It really depends on the person and how well you know them.
This is disgusting. If this were me, I would say something to her. There is a guy at my job who sits in the cube next to me. The wall is low enough where I can see him from the shoulders up. Anyway, He always always always talks with food in his mouth! I cringe whenver he does it. I say to him all the time, why are you doing that? He is just like I don't care. And he doesn't stop. I wish there was something I could do about that . . .
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