Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Bodily functions

What is it about engineers and their apparent inability to disguise bodily functions?

I have sat close to several people during my 10+ years at this company who completely gross me out. Currently there is a guy who sits two cubes away from me and burps, loudly, all day long.

I have also been close to people who snort, hack, fart, and huck up loogies. Nice.

I went to an all-engineering college, so I was exposed to this type of thing ever since I graduated from high school. Considering the lot I had to choose from, I consider myself quite lucky to have found my husband during that time. At least he hasn't developed any of these habits yet. And since he's a petroleum engineer and won't ever be exposed to this type of engineering hell, maybe I'll be safe.

Of course, he has picked up some interesting words and phrases after several years of working around the good ole boys. "Cee-ment" (cement) being one. (Honestly! Like the Beverly Hillbillies and their "cee-ment pond"!) And then there's the ever-popular, "Nope, not doin' anything. Just sittin' there like a bottle of piss." (I like to break that one out around here every once in awhile, but nobody seems to appreciate it like I do.)

1 comment:

Teacher lady said...

If it makes you feel any better, back in my days in the insurance industry, we had quite a few disgusting folks over there. The last big corporation I worked for even put one guy on "double secret probation" because he farted so loudly it was disrupting the people in the cubicles around him. He got written up and his "action plan" included a visit to the doctor to rule out intestinal problems. He was also instructed to change his diet. Corporate America is run by loons.