So here I sit, attempting to get that last bit of
must finish work done before the holidays. I'm stuck here--my company has very little provision for working at home, and anyway, what I'm doing really has to be done here. I usually wear headphones and listen either to music or to an Iowa public radio station (for some reason the Chicago station Real Audio doesn't seem to work, and anyway, they don't run Talk of the Nation, which the Iowa station does). But today, I cannot drown out the distractions.
The guy in the cube across the way has put some sort of device (I think it's a personal DVD player) up on top of his bookcase, and is playing Christmas music. Argh. Here are my problems with this:
It's out of context. I like Christmas music in its proper context (church and malls--neither of which I go to with any regularity--come to mind).
It's really tacky. I'm not sure what album is playing right now, but let me just say that this guy is a BIG fan of American Idol. I could deal with Bing Crosby.
It DOES assume that I both have a certain religious orientation and actually WANT to be in the Christmas spirit. Let's just say that I'm both an atheist and a contrarian.
I can't tell when the printer is out of paper because I have to turn my headphones up so much to drown it out.
So what's your take? Am I being unduly sensitive, unduly crabby, unduly unduly? I AM suffering in silence (with the headphones on) because everyone else seems to enjoy it, and I have no wish to ruin their good time.