LONDON: If you sit next to a window at work, congratulations. Natural light and outdoor views are among the most treasured perks in any office.
Cafeterias, child care centres and gyms are also prized. But there is one feature of the modern office that has always been hard to improve: Other people.
Proximity to loud, smelly or otherwise irksome colleagues is a curse that has long been with us. I assumed it would be sharply eased thanks to the rise of working from home. But there are signs the pandemic is spawning another set of annoyances that could be almost as grievous.
I started thinking about all this last week after reading of the great popcorn Proms commotion at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
An angry man “tore apart” a hapless American couple during a production of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites opera according to audience members who begged the hall to stop selling the crunchy snack.
“It’s noisy, smelly, intrusive and completely inappropriate at a concert,” said classical music critic, Jessica Duchen, in a post that others quickly endorsed. “Just dreadful,” agreed one man. “Completely unacceptable,” said another.
The next day someone tried to start a parliamentary petition to ban popcorn sales at classical music concerts. It failed on the grounds that snack-related decisions were up to music venues, not the UK parliament.
Still, the angry man and the Americans were reportedly moved during the interval so they could sit apart from each other.
#Commentary #hell #people #office
