Bloody commercial radio

[trixtah]

There's a guy in my new area - fortunately, there's a high partition between us - who has the radio on all day long. It is driving me insane. How can people bear to listen to the same 6 boring anodyne songs over and over and over, for weeks on end?

I mean, sure, we have our own music collections, so it's not like we listen to totally fresh new sounds all the time - and who wants to? Familiar favourites are fine. But given the hundreds of thousands of pop songs out there (if we're just talking pop), I really don't understand why a commercial radio playlist is so limited from day-to-day. And the cycles of "aging off" songs that they've been playing on high-rotate seem so long - weeks.

I suppose they have to play the top song on the charts more than once a day, and probably the top ten at least once, but otherwise, why can't they mix it up? Of course, it doesn't help that I find 95% of pop music boring at the best of times (sez she, listening to Scissor Sisters on the iPod right now - "Sheeee's ma mayun...").

Getting back to Radio Man, other than the fact he's obviously not capable of putting on headphones (heh, maybe I should feed some filthy dnb through my speakers.. on LOUD), he leaves the bloody thing on when he leaves for the day. So, not only does the noise pollution continue for a couple more hours until I finish work (I would feel awkward going into his workarea to turn it off with his other colleagues still there), it's wasteful. Ok, compared to the hundreds of other electronic devices in this area, the draw is undoubtedly miniscule, but it just adds to the irritation of the thing.

Comments

[grey-evil-twin.livejournal.com]

Just a thought, have you gone around and said "Your radio is annoying. Do you have headphones?"

This is far more polite than what I said to Old Nina, who does the same thing but with crappier music. "God Nina! Your taste in music sucks and drives me up the fucking wall! Either wear some headphones, or turn the damn thing off!'

[faxon.livejournal.com]

Hmm what you said seems fine with me. :) But that could be a reflection of my workplace.

[grey-evil-twin.livejournal.com]

well yes. I have a low tolerance for annoyance. Luckily, people seem to have got it by now.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Sure, and I've done exactly that in the past. Unfortunately, this guy is at least 15 years older than me (not that that matters much), he's been working for the organisation for about that long, he's been sitting in that area with his little cronies for at least the last three years, he's not in my actual team, I've had no dealings with him in general, AND he's the SAP team leader. I'm the low man on the totem pole there in many respects.

For me to come along after three weeks in that area and bitch when no-one else apparently has a problem with it would not earn me any brownie points, I think. Of course, even with all those "issues", if he had moved into my area, I would have said something. As it is, our subteam is apparently moving AGAIN, so hopefully it'll be a non-issue in the next few weeks.

[grey-evil-twin.livejournal.com]

eeeek.

However, call it pissing on the posts. There needs to be a certain amount of territory marking. He's not in your team, he can't sack you. You work there too. You would LIKE to have a nice working environment. By playing his music loud he is marking more than his assigned turf. I'd call a frown down. Because really? In the end, more respect for that, than curling up and hacking it.

[saluqi.livejournal.com]

Office life is annoying enough when it comes to sharing space with humans you would not otherwise choose to share with. Listening to radio or music without headphones just adds to the aggravation and I think the kind of music is totally irrelevant. If I were his manager I'd have already told him to use headphones or turn it off.

Office manners are like airplane manners I think; the goal should be to avoid inflicting noise, visual and olfactory pollution on one's co-workers.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. It's not a bloody mechanic's workshop, although he might be the kind of guy who wishes he was working someplace more macho like that.

We've just been told that a few of us are going to be moving back to the area we just moved from, so hopefully the annoyance will be resolved that way.