An additional note on what to do about nosy co-workers
If you are not at work to make friends and don’t care if you get invited to the after-work happy hour or Betty Jo’s birthday lunch, then there is an easy way to make sure that you don’t have a nosy co-worker trying to see what you are doing on your computer.
Be rude to them.
I don’t mean ‘nasty’ rude, just ‘leave me alone’ rude. For instance, if they are trying to talk to you while you are trying to concentrate on an exciting game of Yahoo Texas Hold’em, just ignore them. When you hear them come into your cubicle and they start talking, don’t respond. Then, after a few moments, turn around and look at them with an annoyed wtf? look and saying something like “did you say something?” or “I’m kinda busy right now” and then turn back around. Scoffing and rolling your eyes also gets bonus points.
If you’re lucky, they will label you a snob or anti-social. This is great. It means that you will get left alone. Of course, this could backfire. At one job I was told that I wasn’t a team player because I didn’t socialize with everyone, etc. A good response to this is that you “get in the zone” when you are concentrating.
Another way to ensure you get left alone is to observe the co-worker and then make yourself offensive to them. For instance, when I worked in the South almost everyone I worked with at one job had a bible on their desk. They’d read it on breaks, leave it on their desk close to them, etc. So, when they strike up a conversation with me, I let them know that I wasn’t down with Jesus. They wanted to “save” me at first, but gave up and left me alone.
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