Loud and ten? ARgHHH. You are right, she is wrong.

There are two types of people in this world: those who play loud radios in their cubicles and those who understand how rude this is.

Sunny has been in this predicament a few times. She has worn headphones, brought headphones for the perpetrator, asked nicely in person and in email, asked her boss to be moved. It has never ended well for Sunny. It’s the same phenomenon as someone cutting you off in traffic, you honking, and them giving you the finger. People. Bleh.

Have you ever seen the show, Nanny 911? The nanny’s biggest lesson for parents is consistency. If they tell the child to do something once, the child will inevitably ignore them, so the parent must tell them repeatedly and as many times as it takes. Eye contact is very important as well.

So, Sunny’s first thought is to go ahead and ask her politely to turn her radio down. It is a necessary evil in showing civility. You will inevitably have to do this more than once, so each time, she must be told more and more firmly. You are the parent, she is the child. And you are the better person.

Do this for one week. If, after that week, she still has her radio turned up loud, the parent in me suggests that you take it to your management (your manager can talk to hers if you don’t report to the same person). The child in me suggests that you bring in your own radio to drown hers out. Someone else will complain and probably take it to management. Either way, problem solved. She will not like you and talk about you to others, but if they’re the good kind of people, it won’t matter.

Sunny thinks she might lose some perkiness if the radio weren’t feeding her frenzy. But just in case, if she’s drinking community coffee, could you stay late and replace the grinds in the regular coffee bag with decaf grinds without anyone suspecting?

If not, there is still hope. With any luck, she will hate you enough over the radio battle to avoid you and your vicinity altogether. Her perkiness will percolate into another cluster of cubicles.

Keep me posted. And Stay Strong!!

Sunny D

Keep up the good work!