Mind Your Own Screen

When I first started at my company almost 4 years ago (4 year anniversary in 4 days!), I was slightly concerned about the open nature of the loft office space. At my previous employment, my first job out of college, I didn’t have very intense responsibility and particularly excelled at reading msnbc.com and IM’ing with my other friends who also had dead end positions. But now, everyone could easily witness what I did all day. Luckily I quickly proved myself to be a conscientious team member who always met deadlines and didn’t need to be constantly monitored for productivity. Luckily. Because I still sometimes resent the fact that everyone can see my screen.

4 particular times this happened today. First while I was attending the Full CD listening party on AOL.com for the new Kelly Clarkson release, and someone wanted to have a meeting. Second while my curiosity was getting the best of me and I was watching a clip of Melissa Rycroft on Dancing with the Stars, and someone wanted to ask me a question. He then foolishly exacerbated the situation by making some sarcastic comment about “interrupting me,” which really made me want to smack him. Thirdly while I was attempting to write my yearly job review self-assessment and multiple people walked by and gawked at my word document. And lastly, while I was looking up a word on Dictionary.com and someone realized that I cannot possibly know the definition of every word under the sun. Don’t judge people... Like you don’t surf Facebook all day long and occasionally check your email. Like you’d want someone sneaking up behind you and reading your IM’s over your shoulder? Can you please do me a favor from now on and try to walk by and not invade my private work computer biznass...