QUESTION
What can I do about co-workers playing toy guns at work?
Asked on Jul 15th, 2015 on Labor and Employment - California
More details to this question:
This has been very disturbing for long time, some employees love to play nerf blaster. Yesterday one coworker hold the blaster shooting, I was next to him, I needed to go to my desk, but he ignored me, he did not put the blaster down, I wait for 15 seconds after he stopped. I am furious. This morning, I report to the human resource. She said she is going to handle the situation. Today afternoon ready to leave office, this guy played shooting again, one of bullet hit my top of hair. Almost hit my head. I did not fight with him, I am too quiet, not verbally strong person. I feel very terrible, should I report to HR again? What is your suggestion? Should I talk to my boss directly? I hope the complaint will not jeopardize my career. Thank you for reading.
1 ANSWER
Tell the co-employees who use the guns that you find it very disturbing so would they please not use it around you, especially to block you from going to your desk. If you can explain some type of emotional problem it causes [family member shot by gun, etc.] they are more likely to pay attention. If that does not work, tell your joint supervisor that it prevents you from working well; do not be too pushy in saying that. You can check with HR but they likely will not do much. You need to learn to be more aggressive as to what you want. While it is nice to be nice, bosses and co-workers often just think they can sometimes take advantage of you. It is my experience they actually pay more attention to self centered people who do things for their own advantage then someone who tries not to cause any problems, is an introvert, and passive. You have to learn gradually to be more forceful and act in your own self interest, as people will actually respect you more. Nice guys do not always finish last, but they rarely finish first. That is a sad fact of life.
Answered on Jul 20th, 2015 at 1:00 AM