Using your office cube as a mixed media scrapbook

Expressing your inner whimsy, religious beliefs and credo for life; tacking up images of all the Gifts the Lord has Blessed you with; jars of candy placed near the aisle... Why do people do this? It's not your home, and you're not 14.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZdTMCz-Hg-U/TJOEpMNwlmI/AAAAAAAAJVM/2G_p7xZ4Z3g/s1600/desk.JPG

I don't understand this nonsense either. And it's almost always the fraus that do this stuff. Men might have a few family pics up and that's it. I can understand wanting to personalize your space a little, but FFS, the fraus go way overboard with all the shit they decorate their cubes with: They've got a picture of their wedding day, pictures of all their kids at some school event or playing sports, a daily inspirational quote calendar, a plaque that has some religious scripture on it, etc. Then of course there are the fraus who turn their cubes into a shrine for some fascination they have - one has her cube decorated ENTIRELY with Betty Boop memorabilia, and it's creepy. Another is a New Age freak who has feng shui and "magical" stones all over.
You ought be able to carry that which is important to you within your head for the work day, and not need a visual reminder of it constantly. If you do need it, stick it in a drawer. And leave your happy meal toy at home.
At a law firm where I worked, it used to annoy me that lawyers would have photos of their wedding taken 25, 30, and 40 years earlier displayed in their office, as if to proclaim to everyone - I am normal! I am reliable! Any weddings photos in lawyer offices no matter from how long ago (even 5 or 10 or 15 years ago) annoy me. And yes, some secretaries at the law firm went way overboard in decorating their cubicles with ridiculous decorative garbage.
Wedding photos should never be displayed anywhere! And should not be displayed in homes either! Can't stand to see wedding photos prominently displayed in homes - very tacky. Wedding photos belong in photo albums.
If I were sitting next to that cube I'd knock that action figure shit right off the partition.
R4 I agree - the "showing off" of wedding photos (especially at work) looks SOOOOO tacky and cheesy. Keep your personal life at home.
YUP. I hate this shit too. It's where you work, and you're not CUTE by having stuffed animals, snow globes, jesus bs and jars of candy within reach of your grubby little hands. It's TACKY. But you KNOW the frau that inhabits this thinks she's the coolest thing ever. And of course, she's got Dunkin Donuts too, 'cause I like my sugars.'
http://www.workhappynow.com/wp-content/very-cool-cubicle.jpg
Where's Roz when you need her? "An office that looks efficient is efficient - as Mr. Hart says."
Atta%20girl
R7 Wow, that picture is scary! One thing that fucking PISSES ME OFF is the inconsiderate fraus that bring a radio into work and have their shitty music playing at their desk for everyone else to hear. That should NOT be allowed. If you want to hear music, put on some fucking headphones. If I'm trying to work, I don't want to hear your shitty country or Top 40 station with endless commericals and annoying DJ's talking about stupid shit.
R1
[quote]Where's Roz when you need her? "An office that looks efficient is efficient - as Mr. Hart says." Still alive bitches!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0933361/
Roz
Wow. That looks like my cubicle next to mine.
On the plus side, it might be a safe place to keep your George Cukor box set.
Are those children's books littering the upper shelves in R7's photo?! Also, I spy three coffee mugs. She's clearly homeless and has moved into her cube. "I likes ma sugars"
The three coffee mugs I understand. It means she's been there for at least three Christmases
I think people do it to stay sane. This office/cubicle environment is not normal for human beings. Office workers are literally like lab rats. For men, their sole purpose in the office environment is to flirt with, and check out which women they want to fuck. For women, they create a homey environment with pictures of kids and family, in a sort of nurturing way. You think this is by accident? Not at all. It's merely an adaptation of what we would "normally" be doing in prehistoric times, had we not become this awful corporate, media oversaturated society. What it all boils down to is that men will always do what men do, and women will always do what women do. Because we can't help it. It's DNA coded into us. Women may TRY to act like men in our modern society, and men may TRY to be less barbaric in our modern society, but at our very core, we are who we were thousands of years ago. In other words, the scenery has changed, but we're still the same. So don't be too hard on the fraus.
The cube experience is very isolating for many. Sometimes, they need others to see who they "really" are, because most don't feel like their job titles. Other times, they use the decor to remind themselves who they really are, and what they are outside of the office. Many men do this -- many more women do it because they are still relatively new to the working world, and it can be jarring for them. In the lawyer post above, decor can be used to further market services, but after working in the Silicon Valley, I noticed the worst companies had the best lobbies.
[quote]Many men do this -- many more women do it because they are still relatively new to the working world, and it can be jarring for them. Welcome, time traveler from 1950
It absolutely IS an adaptation. Cube dwellers are made to feel like drones. They have no opportunity to express their individuality. If decorating their pathetic little cages helps them stay sane, I don't see anything wrong with it.
Sorry r17 -- women are still relatively new to the male constructs of work hierarchy. I'm talking on an evolutionary scale.
What do these people do for a living? How do they accomplish anything that requires concentration? Don't make excuses for these childlike people.
R20 Exactly. People need to stop with all the excuses. Think of cashiers, restaurant servers, construction workers, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, and several other occupations that don't even have the luxury of having their own personal space. They manage just fine without all these stupid little knick-knacks, so why can't cube workers? They should be happy they have their own personal space.
I couldn't work with all that shit on my desk, it would be too much of a distraction.
I got called in for not decorating my office -- by my (male) boss with large posters of kittens all over his walls.
[R23], how many pieces of flair did he want you to have?
of course there's a Dunkin Donuts box in r7's pic.
I think that gays and lesbians should decorate their cubes with multi-colored dildos.
That sounds familiar, R24. Is that from a movie?
It's from Office Space, R27. A movie that is all too painfully true to life.
The ones with NOTHING but the papers that they're working on are creepier than most decorated cubes. Nothing, not even a calendar or a jazzy mousepad. Unless, speaking of mice, they're Disney freaks. Disney decorated cubes are the creepiest.
Thanks, R28. LOL. Now I remember. Here's a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DU5YClmS3umk%26feature%3Dplayer_detailpage
What's a "cube"?
Straight%20Guys%20in%20Offices%20with%20Doors
R31= self-loathing queen
The "frau" who inhabits r7's cube is a young male graphic designer in NYC
http://www.flickr.com/photos/76678833@N00/2387707860
When I worked in an ad agency, a quirky, individualized cubicle was nearly mandatory. When I switched to technical writing, nothing but a calendar and work-related crap was allowed. Even your coffee mug had to have the company logo. Now I work at home and my work space is sort of midway between these 2 extremes.
That annotated cubicle is cleverly explained. Artsy types always get a pass. Thanks for the link, R33.
Haha. R33's link shut this thread down quickly.
[quote]The ones with NOTHING but the papers that they're working on are creepier than most decorated cubes. Nothing, not even a calendar or a jazzy mousepad. I never saw the point of putting personal stuff around one's cube when you could be sacked at any time and stuck packing your things with everyone staring. The hell with that. I got laid off from a job and the guy told me that I could come back the next day to get my things. As if. I grabbed my purse and coat and was out the door in a flash. If you're part of some horrible cube farm where people think you're weird if you have nothing in your cube, you could always get a couple cactuses and put a xerox of a photo or two in dollar store frames. Easy in, easy out. Part of my travel-light philosophy came from having done quite a bit of temp work. Thank God I'm self-employed now.
My office assistant has her own small office with big windows looking onto a common area. She has at least 20 pictures of her daughter. Her work space is otherwise neat and business like. She is an invaluable employee, and if that is what she wants, she can have it. I do draw the line at shiny crappy Christmas decorations, which she would have all over the place if she could.
[quote]I never saw the point of putting personal stuff around one's cube when you could be sacked at any time and stuck packing your things with everyone staring. The hell with that. I got laid off from a job and the guy told me that I could come back the next day to get my things. As if. I grabbed my purse and coat and was out the door in a flash. ^This. Just last month, I had been working at a shitty ass job for a few months that didn't pay shit and the guy I worked for was an ASSHOLE, so I knew it was only a matter of time before I quit. Sure enough, this guy finally made me reach my limit and I said, "Fuck this shit! I quit!" and all I had to do was get my coat, my cup, and a few personal papers, and I was out the door. If I would've had a cube full of personal shit, I would have first had to of found some boxes, spent at least 10 minutes packing all the shit up, and then possibly have to make a few trips back and forth taking the boxes to my car, while all the nosey fraus would've loved watching the show. No thanks. Simple is better.
Women always do that kinda crap OP. It's disturbing to say the least.
My mother got canned in a mass layoff after she'd been employed ten years. They had security guards escorting people out like criminals. Since she didn't keep any personal crap at her desk, she was able to slip out a side door and avoid being frogmarched.
You know, I'm one of those solitary worker bees who doesn't have any personal stuff on my desk and am just there to work. I suspect that although people here are picking on those who litter their desks with personal paraphernalia, I would arouse even more suspicion from those same people. Oh, and r15, take your condescending attitude toward women and shove it up your ass.
It's difficult for me not to discount someone who has a ridiculously personalized office or cubicle -- like that in R7's photo (and the explanation in R33's annotated photo doesn't improve my impression.) A workspace needn't look like some idealized spartan image of the driest 1950s accountant's desk, but neither should it look like the aftermath of an explosion at a South of the Border gift shop. And yes, it only makes sense that "creatives" and some others whose work may indeed be different by nature will have different looking workspaces -- but not a chaos of cheap plastic shit, Bible verses, extensive galleries of family photos, and tacky kitsch that reflects poorly on the individual and the organization.
Ha!
http://shinyotaku.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/how-to-decorate-a-cubicle/%23jp-carousel-2495
This is what the Zappos office looks like. This is their CEO, Tony Hsieh.
http://stopbeingaloser.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/tony-ceo-in-cubicle.jpg
R45 What a fucking mess! How can he even concentrate?
OMG r45! I am so OCD about clutter and messy spaces that that office would give me major anxiety. I couldn't work there.
Bitching about it is just as juvenile.
Tony Hsieh = culture cult freak
I'm glad I have my own office. I keep it pretty sparse though. You'd be hard pressed to tell I'm not a Cyclon that doesn't like fingah mahks.
Oh Brother another frau hating thread mixed in with a dose of straight hating display of straight life. Look, ladies, just cuz YOU can't marry, doesn't mean the rest of society cannot exhibit joy and pride that we can. You get PISSED off by this stuff (the wedding photos, the "frau" cube)? You need help. Other people should not have to alter their life, their right to display their life with pictures, just to make a few bitter fags happy. If you were a big boy, you'd be secure enough to not even notice this shit. It's funny to think how twisted your panties are over this. HEY ALL FRAUS, PUT UP MORE PICTURES, CAFTAN IN THE CUBE NEAR THE BATHROOM IS HAVING ANOTHER SISSY FIT!!!
R51 = Cube-frau Run back to your IMDB boards now.
I don't call them cube-fraus. I like to keep it gender neutral. I just call them the copier class.
If it helps them get through the day, more power to them, I say! Having once worked in Cube Land many moons ago, I get the need to wanting to have some reminder of humanity. The only thing I would have a problem with is if I was subjected to listening to another person's choice of music/talk radio.
"If you were a big boy, you'd be secure enough to not even notice this shit. It's funny to think how twisted your panties are over this. HEY ALL FRAUS, PUT UP MORE PICTURES, CAFTAN IN THE CUBE NEAR THE BATHROOM IS HAVING ANOTHER SISSY FIT!!!" If there was ever someone who's panties were twisted, it's you. But I'm glad you're "secure enough" not to lose your shit over a "SISSY FIT!!!"
The extra exclamation points must be a sign of maturity.
It was very obvious to me that R7's link was a man's cubicle.
Honest.
[quote] You'd be hard pressed to tell I'm not a Cyclon that doesn't like fingah mahks. LOL, thank you Jane Wyatt!
Express pride and joy? In what exactly? Seriously - no wonder service is so piss poor and companies are so fucked up. They have employees who think the work place is Romper Room. This is exactly why some people are not afforded the respect they think they deserve at work. And I agree that wedding pictures have no place on public display.
ITA @ R54. An assault on the ears would be MUCH harder for me to take, like if someone blasted Rush Limbaugh all day. At least when you're working in your own little cube, you don't have to look at the other people's crap. It's limited to when you are walking around the office.
Something tells me OP is also the loon who goes batshit insane when some frau says "God bless you." at work after OP has sneezed. OP, do you ever sprain your delicate little ankles when mincing quickly to the computer to post whatever tiresome bile sets you off on an hourly bases?
Before "teamwork" and being deemed part of a work "family" there were people who decorated their offices to an extreme, but everyone else thought they were weird, and were free to have such thoughts without being investigated for "bad attitude."
Boy, you can identify the cube decorators on here (60). Oh wait, found her pic.
http://pseclassified.org/files/2012/11/Deb-Edit.jpg
I never did this when I worked in an office. I decided it would be easier to up and walk without a bunch of shit to haul out.
one%20time%20cube%20gal
"you could be sacked at any time and stuck packing your things with everyone staring" And then you do the walk of shame, tears trickling into your banker's box of possessions. In some places you are not even allowed to pack your own stuff, HR does it for you. But either way, having very little personal stuff to pack is the best way to operate in any corporate atmosphere.
Dibs on his office chair