Happy Friday! Today I'm delighted to feature author Lisa Lim. But before I get to that, if anyone is the UK and is interested in writing short stories, please check out Helen Hunt's upcoming course on July 30th. Helen is fab and she's a super-successful short-story author -- and there are still a few spaces left!
Right, over to Lisa:
A colleague of mine (let’s call her Janet) clips her fingernails at work. I’ll be conversing with a customer, and in the background I’ll hear the maddening Clip Clip Clip Clip sounds resonating in my ears, sounding very much like Japanese water torture.
Then Janet will sand her nails with vigor, causing a plume of nail dust to settle on my desk. Next she’ll whip out ten bottles of nail polish and perform a mani and pedi, and thus fumigating the entire office.
I personally would never floss, pick my nose, use Q-tips or cotton swabs, pop my blackheads or shave my pits at work. That is why it is called personal hygiene.
Care to share your office gripes? Or are you guilty of perpetrating these crimes?
To quote Moliere ~ “Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.” So ehrmm . . . *COUGH*. . . if you’d like to check out the works of this whore, my chick lit novel Confessions of a Call Center Gal (it’s Bridget Jones meets The Office) is available on paperback and Kindle on Amazon, Amazon UK, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. If you find politically incorrect shows like The Office, South Park and Chelsea Lately detestable, childish and offensive, then this book is probably NOT for you.
Thank you, Lisa!
I found this quite amusing although to you it's annoying, When I workded in an office in my teens there was one man who was always cleaning his ears with cotton wool buds, one day he went down too far and the bud disappeared......he end up in hsopital .
ReplyDeleteTo Talli,
I had a parcel delivered yesterday,
inside was your book, was up half the night reading it , so far it's excellent, well done.
Yvonne.
Thanks for the mention Talli. If people are interested but can't make 30 July, I'm now taking bookings for later in the year as well. Anyone who's interested is very welcome to contact me via my blog if they have any queries.
ReplyDelete'Confessions Of A Call Centre Gal' looks like fascinating reading!
Hello gorgeous Talli! Hello lovely Lisa!!
ReplyDeleteOffice gripes?? Where does one begin!??! LOL!
At the moment, my colleague sitting across me has her earphones on, listening to a radio programme and every so often chortles like a maniac. Then goes silent. Then chortles like a maniac. Then goes silent. Then chortles.. oh you get the picture! LOL!
I only cling to the fact that it's Friday and my lunch hour beckons!
Take care x
No office gripes any more, but 'Confessions of a Call Centre Gal' sounds like it might bring back a few memories :)
ReplyDeleteLove the quote!
Um...I'm guilty of picking my teeth if I get a piece of meat stuck. I'm sure I look like a cretan, but I'll keep digging till the meat is out otherwise I can't think straight.
ReplyDeleteI can not believe people do that at work. I would never put up with toe nail dust on my desk. Me, I'd steal all those items from here and put them in her bosses desk drawer.
ReplyDeletetoo funny and yes, it does sound annoying! lol. I guess my pet peeve would be gum chewing and bubble-blowing in the office. Drives me nuts.
ReplyDeleteI had a boss who used to talk to the sink quite often. And the photocopier. And his imaginary friend. He also told the whole office about his 'boy Brazilian' ... That's Finance for you.
ReplyDeleteJust the people who spend the whole day socializing - loudly.
ReplyDeleteAny personal hygience in the office makes you wonder what else they forgot to do (business-wise); but, my biggest pet peeve is the office worker who uses your desk supplies and tools because they don't have the time to go to the end of the room and get them from the supply room. Of course, they don't return yours, either. That's what you do in grade school and, by the time you can get a job, you've learned to get your act together -- or, maybe not.
ReplyDeleteThis does sound like a fun read!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Talli.
I love the title and having worked in a call center at one point I would be able to relate to this wholeheartedly! YUCK with all the personal crap that's done here. YUCK!
ReplyDeleteThat's a fun idea for a book. I too worked at a call center and would most likely relate. Glad I didn't have to deal with fingernails flying at me on a daily basis though!
ReplyDeleteHumming. I don't know why, but it always drove me nuts to hear someone humming.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'd like to shoot the individual who kept turning up the heat.
Ha! I hated when someone would come up behind me and look at my computer over my shoulder. Even my supervisor. I'd tell the caller to please hold and whirl around and ask, "Can I help you?" It got them skittering away. Oh...I really don't like that.
ReplyDeletei totally paint my nails at work. But, back when i was in the office and not working from home, i had a secluded cubicle, with 7 foot walls, so no one ever noticed
ReplyDeleteYikes! That shouldn't happen! I do have a colleague who walks the halls of the school while flossing her teeth - drives me batty! :)
ReplyDelete"Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.”
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHA! So true. Great interview. :)
Aaaah, nail clipping! I can tune out almost anything and remain zen when I must, but nail clipping just squicks me right out. In your own time, people, somewhere private!
ReplyDeleteLOL! I had a boss who was about 15yrs my junior who sniffed perpetually rather than blow his nose. It got so bad I say how sorry I was that on his salary he couldn't afford a hankie. He looked v sheepish and blew his nose!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the course and book sounds fab :O)
This sounds hilarious.
ReplyDeleteGood morning, Talli! Happy Friday to you, too!
ReplyDeleteVery funny, Lisa! Nice to meet you.
ReplyDeleteI've been largely free of the office environment, though I do recall a grad student I shared an office with who liked clicking his fingers across the desk during downtime....
Lisa sounds like so much fun! I've got to check her book out. Thanks for introducing us to her.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the tip. One of the worst office habits, which my scientist friend has told me about - one of her colleagues conducted smelly experiments in the shared laboratory rather than a closed one.
ReplyDeleteRight now my biggest office pet peeve (well, general peeve that started in the office) is when people use the word 'literally' to mean 'figuretively'. It drives me completely and figuretively round the bend!!
ReplyDeleteGreat book title! This was a fun post! I once knew a man who cleaned his ears with his car key. Just thought you should know. Julie
ReplyDeletehi miss talli and miss lisa! for sure you got me laughing so much bout that nail clipping stuff. my sister does that when us guys are watching tv and it gets us crazy. ack! i hope you have a real nice and fun weekend.
ReplyDelete...hugs from lenny
Thanks for the laugh. I'm happy to be working at home at the moment. The most annoying thing here is when the dog has gas. LOL
ReplyDeleteCheers~
Talli,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry I have not visited in a long time. Lisa's book sound like a good read. I am going now to check it out at Amazon!
Lisa, lol! Oh my. One of the most annoying sounds, imo, was made by a worker who just wouldn't blow their nose so we had the dubious pleasure of listening to them sniff and snort. This was some time ago, but we bought the guy several boxes of tissues and put them on his desk. You know what he said? It was bad manners to blow ones nose in public. wtf? I informed him it was even worse to snort and sniff the contents in his nose rather than blow it. Gah!
ReplyDeleteOf course, I work from home now and like Nancy, the worse I deal with is a dog with gas or a cat with a hairball. I can live with it, lolol!
Sia McKye's Thoughts...OVER COFFEE One I liked was the o
icky! I had a share office, and one colleague would not only leave nail clippings all over the desk and computer, but generously shared cold germs by sneezing over the keyboard, then leaving used tissues there too. UGH! Sue
ReplyDeleteHow inconsiderate! Yuk! I had a nursing colleague who used to take her favourite fruit sweets out of our 'patient gift box', she used to lick them then rewrap and put on her side of the desk. It went on for months. One day another colleague coated them with chilli powder, her face was a picture. We all enjoyed fruit sweets after that.
ReplyDeleteI love this ! As someone who's worked in a call center for many years before moving to work from home, I'm sure I can find your book very relative.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at how clueless people can be in public. Clipping her nails?! Disgusting.
ReplyDeleteFortunately I work at home so the only person who can annoy me is me. ;-)
This really does sound pretty annoying. I'm often amazed how little some people think about the things they do around other people, but I guess it has a whole lot to do with upbringing. I haven't worked in an office environment in 30 years and that was in a call center. After that I was either not tied down to an office or worked in an office by myself--what heaven!
ReplyDeleteFun guest post, Talli.
Lee
Tossing It Out
A pedi? I have seen people file their fingernails at work but if someone whipped off their shoes and started wafting feet I think I'd have to have a word.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for mentioning Helen's workshop - I booked! Very exciting. Might prompt me to get more writing done, seem to be in a bit of a depression with it lately.
Hi Talli and Lisa .. sounds positively ghastly .. I hate it when people sniff constantly ... please make people more considerate of others .. YES!!
ReplyDeleteHelen's short story offer sounds a good - am sure it'll be successful
Cheers - enjoy Sunday .. Hilary
Now that looks like a great read! I'd like to write Confessions of a Supermarket Assistant, but I'd probably lose my job!
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm amazed at the places where people do things--apparently at one point there were even signs set up in the NYC Subway telling people not to clip their nails. :P
ReplyDeleteI love Family Guy, so I guess I'll like it! Seems like there's one person in every office who addresses hygiene issues in public. I also worked as a retail manager, and what the customers do...well, let's just say I now avail myself of hand sanitizer while shopping. I may seem OCD, but I saw some awful things on the store security tapes. (I'll spare you the details.)
ReplyDeleteFun! But yes it's all annoying as well. Lucky for me I work from home!
ReplyDeleteAnd it's not just at work! It's on the trains, it's in cars at traffic lights, it's anywhere and everywhere. Eeeek! ;)
ReplyDeleteThis looks so, so great. I have totally had the office workers who do some crazy stuff at work. My former boss used to call a psychic from work every week. Nuts.
ReplyDeletePretty funny, but I understand. That one bugs me also. My most hated is heating fish in the microwave oven. The stench is so bad that it should be considered grounds for immediate removal!
ReplyDelete