Air Con Wars
I work in an air-conditioned office. This causes regular problems, as I'm sure it does in offices the length and breadth of the country.
The age range of my colleagues varies from 26 (me being the youngest, huzzah!) to mid-50's. There is also a pretty even split of warm people and cold people. As far as I'm concerned, it could ALWAYS be cooler in the office. I'm a hot tattie and I prefer to be cool*. Unfortunately, there are others who would sit in a centrally-heated house with a hot water bottle and a blanket**. These people complain bitterly any time the air con blasts out a bit of cooler air to regulate the temperature. I, on the other hand, wait for these blasts like a spaniel with it's head out a car window on a hot day - tongue hanging out limply, panting.
*I can only imagine what I'll be like when I hit the menopause. The mind boggles.
**Over their pyjamas, dressing gown and slippers.
It's unfortunate that the two coldest people in the office sit under the air con vents, so I understand that it does get a bit chilly for them. It's also unfortunate that my beloved corner seat by the window is a bit cosier. I'm afraid though, that I will have to be dead or retired before I give up my corner seat. Apart from the fact I can keep an eye on all the goings on, I HATE HATE HATE having my back to the room - it makes me nervous. I never know when someone is going to creep up on me and give me something to do. Where I sit now I can see them coming and have an excuse prepared.
But anyway... Today the Air Con Wars reached new heights of ridiculousness. There is one particular person who is always FAR! TOO! HOT! She is a medical anomaly. She walks about outside, in winter, with a cardi over a t-shirt, and maintains that she is perfectly comfortable. She gets funny looks from people in the street who think she should be in a secure unit somewhere.
Unfortunately for everyone else in the office, she's also an overbearing, self-important loon (but don't tell anyone I said that) who thinks the air conditioning unit is there just for her. It is set at a fairly comfortable temperature for everyone, but every so often someone takes it into their head that they're cold and changes the temperature or fan speed - this is unacceptable to Warm Colleague. She checks the A/C unit every time she passes. If it's different to the usual 21C/mid-fan-speed, she changes it. She doesn't ask anyone if it's ok, she doesn't even break stride, she just changes it.
Today, one of the Cold People snapped. She was delirious from cold (so she told me anyway, I think she was being a tad overdramatic), and she changed the temperature to 22c. Two minutes later, WC walks past the display thingy with the buttons, and changes it back to 21c. Cold Person calmly walks over, says 'I'm cold, does anyone mind if I change the temperature?' No-one did, so she changes it. Two minutes later, WC changes it back, again, without asking if anyone minds. CP turns puce.
And so it went on. For an hour.
It would be easier to just switch the effing thing off.
The age range of my colleagues varies from 26 (me being the youngest, huzzah!) to mid-50's. There is also a pretty even split of warm people and cold people. As far as I'm concerned, it could ALWAYS be cooler in the office. I'm a hot tattie and I prefer to be cool*. Unfortunately, there are others who would sit in a centrally-heated house with a hot water bottle and a blanket**. These people complain bitterly any time the air con blasts out a bit of cooler air to regulate the temperature. I, on the other hand, wait for these blasts like a spaniel with it's head out a car window on a hot day - tongue hanging out limply, panting.
*I can only imagine what I'll be like when I hit the menopause. The mind boggles.
**Over their pyjamas, dressing gown and slippers.
It's unfortunate that the two coldest people in the office sit under the air con vents, so I understand that it does get a bit chilly for them. It's also unfortunate that my beloved corner seat by the window is a bit cosier. I'm afraid though, that I will have to be dead or retired before I give up my corner seat. Apart from the fact I can keep an eye on all the goings on, I HATE HATE HATE having my back to the room - it makes me nervous. I never know when someone is going to creep up on me and give me something to do. Where I sit now I can see them coming and have an excuse prepared.
But anyway... Today the Air Con Wars reached new heights of ridiculousness. There is one particular person who is always FAR! TOO! HOT! She is a medical anomaly. She walks about outside, in winter, with a cardi over a t-shirt, and maintains that she is perfectly comfortable. She gets funny looks from people in the street who think she should be in a secure unit somewhere.
Unfortunately for everyone else in the office, she's also an overbearing, self-important loon (but don't tell anyone I said that) who thinks the air conditioning unit is there just for her. It is set at a fairly comfortable temperature for everyone, but every so often someone takes it into their head that they're cold and changes the temperature or fan speed - this is unacceptable to Warm Colleague. She checks the A/C unit every time she passes. If it's different to the usual 21C/mid-fan-speed, she changes it. She doesn't ask anyone if it's ok, she doesn't even break stride, she just changes it.
Today, one of the Cold People snapped. She was delirious from cold (so she told me anyway, I think she was being a tad overdramatic), and she changed the temperature to 22c. Two minutes later, WC walks past the display thingy with the buttons, and changes it back to 21c. Cold Person calmly walks over, says 'I'm cold, does anyone mind if I change the temperature?' No-one did, so she changes it. Two minutes later, WC changes it back, again, without asking if anyone minds. CP turns puce.
And so it went on. For an hour.
It would be easier to just switch the effing thing off.
Labels: Office
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 10:48 pm.
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Switch it off. Make the hot people wear less clothes and the cold people more.
I grew up in a greenhouse. My family would rather we walked round in vests all day then actually go and put a jumper on. Now I love my big cold flat with its heating on low.
If I get cold at night I cuddled up to Boyfriend. Boys are like water bottles, radiating all that testosterone.
I don’t know how I got talking about testosterone in a post entitled Air Con Wars but there you go.
I'm one of those people who is always, always cold. I like the heating cranked up HIGH and always sleep with a hot water bottle, even in summer. In the office here it's a nightmare as K would gladly have the windows open even as snow whirls onto his papers.
Fortunately for me, he's generally such a gentleman that I win and he sweats.
Yeah - turn it off and make eveyone walk around naked.....top idea. If it happens, don't forget to have your web cam switched on though ;-)
We have the same conversations at work, but have no control over the heating system. If you're cold you're cold and if you're hot you're hot. I do sometimes have colleagues sitting there with coats on though.
I am glad you put up a new post as I couldn't read most of your last one because you went into details of an accident that involved teeth etc, which made me feel odd and I couldn't summon up the courage to read the details. I'm a wimp. Sorry.
I don't seem to feel the temperature - people around me are always complaining one way or the other and I'm oblivious. Apparently I'm a good hot water bottle though.
Offices are the same the world over! In our last office where we had no air con and next to no heating we all went about wearing scarves and fingerless gloves all winter!
We now have no windows, so it could be any weather outside, we wouldn't know - but half the office would be hot and the other cold. A/C is the worst invention ever (perhaps over dramatic, but I mean they could invent it better!).
It does seem to be one of those things that bugs everyone... I'd be quite happy to switch it off - it's caused major tension in my office the last couple of days! There have been complaints made, people crying (neither of which perpetrated by me, I may add). It's ridiculous.
Thankfully I have a niiice long weekend so I don't have to hear any more about it till Monday - and I'm sure someone will have a black eye by then.
PS Random - sorry for making you cringe with the teeth vs pavement talk. Oh, and the root canal surgery. And the crowns. And the injecting of bleach into teeth.
I'll stop now.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not reading. Not reading. I think my eyes may be bleeding now.
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