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>Noise should be opt in; not opt out. That's a great way of putting it. One of my pet peeves is along a similar line. I have a quiet voice. When I was younger, I had a quieter voice. The change happened because people were happy to ask me to repeat myself or, in a more blunt way, that I need to speak up. That's fine, it's my problem, it's me failing to communicate properly, and I've learned to be loud enough most of the time because of it. But it doesn't happen the other way. It's not 'OK' to tell someone they talk too loudly. You can try, and they may temporarily adjust (while, actually, thinking it's your problem) but they won't change their voice for good, like I had to. If it's a failure of communication for me to be heard by the person stood next to me, it should also be a failure for a person talking to someone at the same distance if I can hear them on the other side of a busy office or a train carriage. And if someone has a bassy vocal fry that penetrates walls, they should raise their pitch. I don't want to have to opt out of their conversation and, if I do, I have to be confrontational. |
I've found I can politely request that people not have meetings standing three feet from me, and I can generally get people to not yell across the entire room.
But every now and then this womans let off her ear-shattering "AHHH HUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUHUH" laugh and not once has my muse inspired me with words that would convey a gentle, face-saving admonishment.
It's ultimately because she's laughing. Her laugh sounds like someone torturing a seal with a jackhammer, but my company policy is that it's a fun place to work. And that means people get loud, and if I don't like it, I can look for work elsewhere.