Cube Life - Surprisingly Noisy

We're several weeks into our new area at work where everyone is in cubes. No offices for anyone, not even the big boss. They're pretty low cubes but you can barely see the top of the heads of the tall people so when you're sitting down you feel alone. Until someone stands up in a cube near you then you feel like they're peering over you.

The first week I was a total noise Nazi. Sound really carries and it's funny how work conversations blend in to the background but personal ones intrude. And, can be annoying if you don't want to hear someone's business.

Everyone settled down so there's not that much noise. From us, anyway. It's our neighbors who are surprisingly loud.

The print manufacturing area is right below us. Our floor is really their suspension ceiling which means it moves as people walk on it. A little unnerving until you get used to it. It's also not very good at blocking noise.

As a safety measure, our big printing press plays music when it's running. It's a cross between the ice cream truck and a circus tune. We're all doing our best to tune it out but some people have resorted to headphones and tunes.

But that's not the clearest noise that comes up. There's one person down there who's loud and whose voice really carries. Even more than mine does which is hard to believe.

What's funny is that this same person used to come in to my office and everyone knew he was there because they could hear him so well. He also dropped a lot of f-bombs so he was entertaining to listen to. Since I've been in my cube, he's only come by once or twice and has tried to keep his voice down. He still dropped some f-bombs.

I can't wait to tell him that he can be heard almost as well through the floor as he used to be through the office wall.