HomeWe can't choose our colleagues, yet we spend more hours with them than with our friends and families. Getting along with others isn't easy, but if making allies at the office isn't on your agenda, here are five ways our readers suggest to tick off your peers (and yes we had an excruciating time limiting the list to 5):
1. Baby talk on the phone. Seriously. No one wants to hear you babbling sweet nothings to your girlfriend or telling your tot "Daddy wubs you" on company time. You're a professional adult, man. Save it for the bedroom or the playground.
2. Come to work sick. If you have a virus, please, spread it around. Your coworkers will thank you. On second thought, no they won't. They will want to bash your head with a gallon of Purell. You aren't a martyr. Stay home.
3. Eat half of someone's lunch. Every office has entire meals that go missing from the company fridge. But if you really want to kick it up a notch, gnaw half of someone else's sandwich or pick the shrimp from their lo mein ... and then put it back. Just be careful. Next time you might be licking laxative or Little Friskies.
4. Read over someone's shoulder. If you want to irk someone in a hurry, ask what they are working on. Comment on the material on their screen. Mutter behind them while they type e-mail replies.
5. Taking credit for someone else's work. Accept kudos for a project you didn't do. And while you are on a streak, arrive to work late, leave early and take a long lunch break.
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