Cubicle

I never worked in a cubicle until now. I have shared offices with more than one person, but I never shared a very large room with a large number of people. Here are my first impressions:

-Light: this particular place functions with movement detectors. In the morning, before a lot of people are here, the lights sometimes go off. This is disturbing. I am lucky enough that the cubicle across mine is next to the window. I miss day light!

-Noise: having the conversation and phone conversation of one or two other people near you when you are not involved is OK. But lots of giggling and phone conversations from everywhere around you is a bit much. Fortunately I have headphones that almost completely isolate me. It’s also odd when you sneeze and someone you can’t see says “God bless you”.

-Smells: I did it too, but maybe eating warm food in one’s cubicle should be forbidden…

-Access: I like the fact that I have three different paths and two different doors to exit, two different paths to the bathrooms. I think it’s funny to see the various ways in which people use their cubicle (tidiness, decoration, pictures, amount of things; this is also true for offices). Eh! I don’t go in, I just walk by them!

-My particular cubicle is one that still has stuff from its previous user. Including baby pictures… I wonder could I take them off? That person is still around…

Is the idea of cubicle more than just saving space? Do people think it involves some form of peer pressure to work? Any tips on cubicle etiquette and survival?

There is an empty cubicle next to the window? Can I move in there?