Seems like the only thing worse than clipping your fingernails at work would be asking your office mates if they mind you clipping your nails. What exactly did you expect them to say?

I know what I'd say, and it's the exact opposite of what I'd be thinking.

Is it inappropriate if 1/10 say so and others do the same?

No.

I've reconsidered my position. This is unlike most of these oot questions that arise where an op asks a question andeveryone agrees on the answer but the op can't be convinced he's wrong.

In this case you're actually right and everyone else is wrong. Clip on.

eta: don't forget the toenails

shave your pubes too in there

LOL...ok no more clipping of the nails at work. Which BTW hasn't happened since. But to the other points...she complained on a coworker for bodywash and another for blowing their nose. At what point should the population at large alter behavior to avoid one person's inconvenience?

de captain,

I play the pokers

I don't think anyone's arguing that she isn't a pain in the ass. While I would never actually complain to a person I was working near (I've never had an office job), I've certainly been around people who's body wash or cologne was more than mildly offensive and I've heard people blow their nose in an offensive manner.

Personally I'd never do any grooming around people I was working with and if I have to blow my nose (more than just a very minor sniffle type thing) I make a point to do it in private (go around a corner, a vacant room or restroom).

We're just talking about basic common courtesy stuff here that adults really shouldn't need to be told.

Do you like hearing people blow their nose, clip their nails, fart, or wear offensive cologne or body wash?

Jake,

Please elaborate on "I simply keep some clippers at work for the rare times I need them."

Like, what's the scenario in which the last 10 days in a row at home you haven't had the need to clip them, but bam this specific day at work you need to and it can't wait til tonight at home?

What about flossing in cubicle? Picking your feet in Poughkeepsie?

To be honest, I don't notice **** like that (excluding farting). I mean I've gotten on elevators with someone wearing strong cologne/perfume...but my reaction is simply that they have overdone it, not that there needs to be some goddamn remedy. Some of these responses are lol. Does any reasonable person equate nail clipping with raising your leg and farting? Or a one time occurrence with an everyday thing?These are basic interactions with other human beings. You don't have a right to NOT be inconvenienced every minute of every day. And in the real world, who do you think HR sees as a problem employee: the longterm employees who have one complaint against them or the employee who lodged those complaints every other week?

Anyhoo, I realize from these responses that the nail clipping thing is a bigger deal than I had in my mind. And that's ultimately what I was looking for.

I want to buy a gift for some children. I know nothing about children except that they're loud and sticky.

I have 3 nieces and nephews that I want to buy something cool for. My standard gift is always just cash but I want to send them something cool, unique, kind of "out there".

The youngest boy is in kindergarten and the oldest boy is 10 I think. The girl is 8 or 9. They seemingly have everything a kid could want - laptops, ipads, games, etc..

Budget <$200, must be able to order online, something all 3 would like, and I can have shipped to them. Anyone have any ideas? I know some of you here have crumb grinders of your own so I'm hoping you'll have an idea.

El Dilettante,

3x in 6 years is an acceptable margin of error by any standard. The scenario is simple math...when you spend more waking hours at work than home, then there is the occasional need for such things. Like...you know...the clippers at home got misplaced, or no longer work well etc. But w/e....I've already acquiesced but thanks for chiming in.

Jaket,
So you're basically saying the world doesn't need to worry about common courtesy and everyone should be able to run around smelling offensive, farting, doing their personal grooming in public, chewing with their mouths open, etc.?

I don't have a right to expect people not to do that around me? Do you really want to work in an environment where the guy next to you smells terrible all day?

I have no idea how HR actually works but if I were somehow in charge of HR and an employee came to me every week complaining that their coworker was a smelly caveman with no manners it's not the complainer that I'd consider the problem.

I think there's a ghost in my house ****ing with me.

I was laying on the couch reading with the Rockets/Trail Blazers game on with the volume muted. The remote was sitting on top of the back of the couch and out of no where the channel changed. A few mins passed before I realized the game wasn't on and the TV was on the Oxygen channel. Oxygen isn't 1 channel up or down from ESPN and it's not a channel programmed on my favs list or a channel I ever watch so I have no idea wtf happened.

I switched the channel back to the game and started reading again. About 5 mins later the channel change to the Travel Channel but this time the volume was unmuted. Same as Oxygen, the Travel Channel isn't 1 channel up or down or saved on my favs. The Travel Channel had Ghost Adventures on so maybe a ghost was trying to tell me something.

I'm pretty sure it's not something with the batteries in the remote b/c I just changed them last week.

sounds like a westinghouse. disconnect the touch panel.

Pretty sure you're supposed to die within a week of watching the Oxygen channel.

Is that what I said? Or did I imply that one person's idea of offensive can be hypersensitive for practical purposes?

Nope. It's a Toshiba I bought a few months ago.

It just happened again. In the time I was making my last post it changed the channel to Oxygen again. That's 3 times in the last 30 mins.

I don't use a cable box on that TV. It's the cable running straight to the TV. All 3 of the channels are close to each other but not in order. There's 4 channels between ESPN and Travel Channel.

Oxygen is 37-28
ESPN2 is 37-30
ESPN is 37-31
Travel Channel is 37-61.

i have the same thing on this tv from a couple months in. the touch panel was so sensative...air movement changed the channel or turned the volume up.

disconnected the touch panel and its 100% now with remote only.

Actually I think what you implied was that you don't understand common courtesy. I'm willing to concede being wrong here if you can gain support from some other posters.

Thin,

I assume you're online shopping for a chainsaw. There's only one option

Buckyballs $30ish

Those things are super fun to play and build things. My 11 and 13 year old love them (I also like them). Check out the zillion youtube videos.


Syma X1 Quadcopter $30ish

My daughter got the bubblebee version for Christmas. It's cheap. It fly's great. It is pretty tough and won't break easy. It fly's indoors and outdoors. It's 1/10 the price of the hobby grade versions!

The last idea is find out if they play minecraft. It's about $30 for the PC but also available for the Xbox 360, ipad etc... It's Lego's for a computer. Fun and promotes creativity. (I'm guessing they may have this)

Your definition of common courtesy seems to be anything that doesn't offend you, which is an impossible standard.. And you use extremes as though they are commonplace. My idea of common courtesy is to 1) not do things that are patently offensive to others and 2) accept the occasional idiosyncrasies of others. Your standard requires the universe to acquiesce to you, whereas I will yield when practical as evidenced in this thread.

And LOL at your concession in a forum where you are well liked (and deservedly so if not only for your sailing around the world thread which is truly fascinating...and that's a serious compliment). I don't stand a chance where seasoned posters are champions of sophistry in your defense.

Mark,
Thanks for the ideas. Those look like fun. They do already have minecraft.

Jacket,

Actually I think we can get some honest input from other office workers who post here who aren't going to be biased toward me. I think there are even several HR people who post here who would have valuable input.

I am not asking anyone to acquiesce to me. I certainly understand that no one is going to change on my account. I simply listed several things that I, as do many people, find offensive, impolite, and inconsiderate. Some of those things are the same things you listed as acceptable.

I don't often enter professional workplaces but when I do I rarely ever see any of the things we've been discussing. I find it hard to believe people in charge of workplaces want their employees clipping their nails, blowing their noses in front of everyone, or smelling strongly enough that they can be smelled from several feet away.

I could be wrong. I've been surprised at the homeyness of some pictures of cubicles I've seen so maybe some of these places have a more homey atmosphere where anything goes like your at home with your brother or something. I really don't know.

So you don't often enter workplaces and of those infrequencies, your rare observations should trump those of people who work in those environments for years?

Honest input from HR folk is welcome. Because while the complainer is focused on one person or instance, HR has to make a policy for 2000 employees. How many people use scented body wash? What if X # of those are allergic and can only use certain soaps? Which concern wins?