Holoom

Ever since I wrote my post on office fauna a considerable number of readers (i.e. two people) have asked that I deliver more descriptions of the creatures that haunt the IT hallways. Instead of doing another big delivery I decided to deliver installments with one creature per post. I’m going to take this approach for several reasons, the main one being that I’m extremely lazy. Today I’m going to talk about the wandering meddler.

Meddlers are predators that feed on the attention of others. They usually hunt during office hours looking for conversations that are happening between two or more people and when they find one, they patiently await a cue to jump in uninvited and participate.

There are social meddlers who like to jump in mainly into social conversations; work meddlers who mostly feed on conversations regarding professional activities and omnivores who will break into whatever is happening as long as they can grab the limelight for a few moments and dazzle you with their wonderful worldview (not!).

They are extremely territorial and dislike the presence of fellow meddlers since they tend to compete for the attention they so eagerly seek. They are usually obnoxious people that would otherwise not be invited to participate in the conversation to begin with. They also lack self criticism or they would realize they are not welcome.

Depending on the rank of the person, they could be extremely hard to avoid. High-ranking meddlers are especially difficult because it could prove a career faux-pas to tell off your boss or superior.

To effectively deal with a meddler one must cultivate patience and the ability to simulate a cell phone call to extricate oneself from a conversation without arising suspicions.

Shuje

On my next post I will explain why I use words such as “extricate” and “faux pas” without knowing what they mean. In the meantime, post your thoughts, suggestions and experiences with office fauna below or mail them to shuje@holoom.com