I have to tell my co-worker that he's pissing everyone off

Be honest and forthright, but not nasty obv. He should know it's not on at work, especially if it's affecting everyone else.

Also the AIM/MSN suggestion is a very good one as it gives him an option (if yr allowed to, obviously). Not good is if he reverts to AIM and stilll does no work tho I guess.

Is he getting no work done?

I had to work next to a woman who was on her mobile all the damn time, arranging netball competitions. It seemed like she never did work. It was very frustrating.

G'luck luna!

I wish I was kidding.

:(

Hide it in a drawer!

I am with you today because I am a very important vertically challenged tiny minded man... A little background: I'm Harvard grad, my Daddy was a union worker in a small town in rural Alabama, and because I, like a true and good American loved my daddy and that union until I thought my heart would burst, it is because of that fact that I the sentitive to the plight of the common working man lawyer you see in front of you today. In fact I love him so much that I shall forego the riches of corporate law and settle like the sediment in a bottle of homebrew to the bed of the murky fishpond that is unionside labor law. I shall accept as my wage only the everlasting devotion of the union member, I shall have a portrait of Jimmy Hoffa tattooed upon my bulbous buttocks (they really are, it's weird, he has a girl butt and I think he looks like a weeble wobble), and I shall soldier bravely on in the face of overtime violations and unpaid fringe benefit plan contributions.

I am humbly your dark lord... *spent*

Well drop it in a glass of water and then deny everything :)

xpost

Don't pussyfoot. Don't get real nasty unless he escalates. Just let him know that the limit has been passed and it is time for him to get real.

But I'm a hard-ass about this kind of stuff. I have hard limits. I don't like being stepped on.

God, I wish this were possible. Because that would so rock.

Anyway, I'm sure you've gotten tons of advice, much of it really good and useful, on this thread already, so all I'm going to say now is... good luck and godspeed.

(At my workplace, employees also have to label their lunches with name/date before putting them in the office fridge, though the lunches are thrown out after a full week, not daily, and I don't take lunch, so it doesn't affect me directly.)

(At my work place, you can't even use cell phones unless you step outside, because the building is designed to where the signals are really weak, to the point where it makes it next to impossible to use them. Eh. Again, doesn't affect me, since I don't use cell phones at work. And Mom knows my work phone # for emergency use, so, well, yeah.)

2) set it off. it will disrupt all communications in an eight block radius.

3) find new job

it's possible I'm taking "24" too literally, however.

1. Update your resume.
2. Start surfing the legal staffing sites.
3. If step brings no joy, open up Martindale Hubbel and start cold-applying to every big firm in your area.
4. Get the fuck outta Dodge.

problem solved.

well aren't you a tolerant guy!!!

I said "Okay, so this is uncomfortable and weird for me, however, because I consider you my very good friend and I care about you... I know you and ____ have this great new relationship and that you want to talk to her all the time, but I've been told that people are starting to notice and talk about you being on the phone a lot, and before Jay finds out and makes another "policy" maybe you should cool it on the phone a little."

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

I had to sit beside this guy once who stank to high heaven. Everyone complained about him - to me, for some reason. I told our manager and she reluctantly agreed to talk to him about it. He accused her of being part of a lesbian conspiracy in our company. I'm not kidding.

And the boss waving bagged lunches in the air and pontificating needs to be shot in the cock because he's that much of a tool.

Should this behavior continue, however (and it's been pretty quiet this afternoon), I'm going to slam his head against the desk and shove the phone up the nearest available orifice and say STAY THE FUCK OFF THE PHONE, YOU ASSCLOWN.

okay, I started embellishing somewhere in that story, but it's basically true.

wow.

Did she commute?

Haha. That's probably the greatest compliment I've ever received. (I wish I was half as bad ass, but thanks.)

In retrospect, while I felt bad at the time about him getting dumped, he probably had it coming. I was forced to gently advise him (in his next relationship) that telling your girlfriend she should stop hanging out with certain friends of hers is being too controlling. From what I gather, this issue was a point of contention with Peace Corps Girl.