Clearing throat in work

splashthecash

Hey all,

This is a relatively small issue but I'd like to get your opinions on it.

A work colleague who sits across from me regularly clears his throat and it is disgusting. It is a proper, right from the throat kinda clear - the kind someone would do to bring up phlegm. He does it on his own calls, and I'm sure people can hear it come through on my calls too.

He must not realise he is doing it - well at least I hope he doesn't cos I find it a very rude thing to be doing in workplace.

Does anyone have any suggestions of how I could address this - note that me going to HR\my manager isn't ideal as I'm sure he'd know it was me cos I'm the one closest to him.

Fann Linn

splashthecash wrote: »

Hey all,

This is a relatively small issue but I'd like to get your opinions on it.

A work colleague who sits across from me regularly clears his throat and it is disgusting. It is a proper, right from the throat kinda clear - the kind someone would do to bring up phlegm. He does it on his own calls, and I'm sure people can hear it come through on my calls too.

He must not realise he is doing it - well at least I hope he doesn't cos I find it a very rude thing to be doing in workplace.

Does anyone have any suggestions of how I could address this - note that me going to HR\my manager isn't ideal as I'm sure he'd know it was me cos I'm the one closest to him.

Would you not say it to him? 'Excuse me, but.....'

dennyk

As someone who has chronic allergies, I can point out that he may not really have a choice if he's got to be talking on the phone. If you have some post-nasal drip going and you don't give the throat a good ol' rattle every once in a while, you'll soon start sounding like you're gargling a bucketful of phlegm every time you talk.

Oops69

people are constantly snotting, snorting, coughing , sniffing , blowing noses un necessarily and really just attention seeking , tell him to stop doing it and its disgusting , the ignorant fcuker .

MayoSalmon

Make a passive aggressive remark..that why they won't or shouldn't take to much offensive.

Sam Quentin

Just say:- are you ok, you sound like your dying!?
Might make him think.

jimmycrackcorm

You need to jump up suddenly, clutch your heart and exclaim, "YOU SCARED ME".

He likely isn't aware of his habit. Alternatively, have a word with him about it and if it continues then follow step one above.

Alternatively download the fart app and click it each time so that you both can have fun.

jk23

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

You need to jump up suddenly, clutch your heart and exclaim, "YOU SCARED ME".

He likely isn't aware of his habit. Alternatively, have a word with him about it and if it continues then follow step one above.

Alternatively download the fart app and click it each time so that you both can have fun.

That’s actually a good one, if you say that it scared you then you can say after that without insulting that it was really loud if he doesn’t get the message after that there is something up

listermint

Just say 'here hockey Mac hock throat , will you give up Hocking your throat all over the place ' then just call him hockey for the rest of the day

Milkman..

I like the fart app idea

Charles Babbage

Is this After Hours or a serious work forum? If he has post nasal drip and he needs to talk on the phone what is he supposed to do?

MayoSalmon

splashthecash wrote:

Does anyone have any suggestions of how I could address this - note that me going to HR\my manager isn't ideal as I'm sure he'd know it was me cos I'm the one closest to him.

Going to HR over somebody clearing their throat...lord almighty.

DeanAustin

MayoSalmon wrote: »

Going to HR over somebody clearing their throat...lord almighty.

A sign of much that is wrong in the workplace these days.

fishy_fishy

Charles Babbage wrote: »

Is this After Hours or a serious work forum? If he has post nasal drip and he needs to talk on the phone what is he supposed to do?

Antihistamines

_Brian

Problem here is OP is obsessing over this and probably tuned irrationally to hearing it now.

Complaining etc is way OTT and would come across as very petty. It could be habit or it could be some underlying medical condition.

I’d say get over it and learn that this stuff is part of working with others. . One of my workers kept walking round to face me straight on and comes up very close, I found it really hard in the beginning as it’s almost a personal space issue. Then he said one day that he only had 20% hearing and relied on lip reading to have a conversation with anyone.

You never know why someone does something, learn to get over it. Maybe he hates your smell and it’s making him retch all the time ?

Aglomerado

I used to work near a guy who had a constant phlegmy rumble. I learnt to tune it out when I realised it was not just a simple chest infection, he had a genuine medical reason (much more severe than post nasal drip) why he was doing it.

I'd be very sensitive to noise at work but sometimes I have to suck certain things up that others can't help.

Sabre0001

Should say it to him either joking or more direct, as above.

Failing that, apply for access to the Ranting & Raving forum so that you can get it off your chest when he's trying to do similar!

razorblunt

Just say it to him, why can't people just be direct about these things?

There's a guy at work that does something similar, but not to the extent that its a phlegm scraper. Turns out its a bit of a nervous tic and he can't do anything about it.

Teyla Emmagan

God that's disgusting. He might need to clear his throat but he could at least go and do it in the jacks. Say it to him. I told the guy beside me to use a tissue instead of sucking the snot back into his head a while ago. He was literally making me feel sick.

DoozerT6

As someone who also notices these things, that would absolutely drive me berserk. I have on more than one occasion politely asked people not to sniffle what seems like a pint of snot from their sinuses while in my office.

Those who say to just suck it up, when you are sensitive to stuff like that, it really can make things difficult in a work setting, and it's not easy to ignore or just laugh off. I would probably have a form of misophonia, I guess. Repetitive sounds or tics like noisy chewing, sniffing, coughing, throat-clearing, even an annoying laugh can drive me up the walls and I will do anything to get away from the source of the noise.

I have one workmate for whom I have to actually leave the room when he starts eating. He's unbelievably sloppy and noisy, and I have asked him not to eat chewing gum in my vicinity, as I can hear him chewing it when he is around the corner and not even in my field of vision.

Could the OP casually suggest to the throat-clearer: "hey, you seem to have an awful auld problem with your throat, you're always clearing it lately, have you seen anybody about it?" Maybe if he's aware that other people are picking up on it, he might actually do something about it? If he says "why, is it bothering you?" just be honest and say, "well I have noticed it happening more and more often recently, I get that you can't help it, but lately I'm finding it distracting when I'm trying to take a call".

Maybe he might dial back the 'hacking' a bit if he thinks it's really noticeable.

Postgrad10

I too suffer with with my sinuses during all seasons but I'd never start to clear my throat in public. I go to the bathroom or out to the car . Have a quiet word with your employer to have a quiet word with him.

B.A._Baracus

Just have a polite word with him. Ask him why he does it so much. Is it a medical thing or a trait he doesn't realise he does.

What's the alternative? going to a manger saying he also does it on phone calls? that's going behind someones back. It would be actually seen as trying to get someone in trouble.