Ever since I moved into my new office, I’ve been driven to distraction by the phone habits of the person in the next office. Not a co-worker, but someone who works in the company next to us on this floor. Through the flimsy drywall, I can hear his muffled phone conversations because he always uses a speaker phone. The most annoying and distracting part of this is when he makes the calls — he dials with the speaker phone, and whoever he calls doesn’t seem to have voice mail. I just hear the dial tone (on and off, because it doesn’t seem like he quite realizes how to dial the phone) and then the steady drone of the ring over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and …
A few minutes ago, after listening to this for about 5 minutes straight, I had to leave my office and close the door for a little peace.
And then I realized I could still hear it, out there in the hallway.
I think that tonight I will buy myself a boom box and crank it up here in my office to spare what is left of my final tenuous grasp on sanity. Or, I’ll get some kind of microphone so that I can record it and share the experience with the world.
