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How Money Are You: The Dreaded Cubicle

Thu, 07/24/2008 - 8:31am by SavvySugar
808 Views - 20 comments

In case your calendar manufacturer missed the mark, I'm here to remind you that the cubicle is celebrating its 40th birthday this year. Cupcakes for everyone! For better or for worse, the invention of the cubicle forever changed the workplace. What do you know about the cubicle in all of its confined glory?

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20 Comments Add a Comment

  • Evalicious's picture
    Evalicious
    1

    I wish I had a cubicle - I think they are so cute, plus there are so many ways to personalize them. I have a regular office with a door and windows (which is great), but I get cubicle-envy whenever I see someone working in one. I also never lived in a dorm in college, so I get dorm-envy every August when stores start selling all the neat little gadgets that make dorm-living comfortable.

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • cmd0610's picture
    cmd0610
    2

    After watching Mad Men and seeing how people used to work with just all the desks in a big room with no privacy I can see how the cubicle was appealing- but I feel trapped when I have a work space with no exterior windows so I wouldn't be able to handle being surrounded by "walls" . . .I doubt anyone with a cubicle loves it just bc you can personalize them . . .

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • cmd0610's picture
    cmd0610
    3

    BTW Evalicious dorms are miserable! I lived in the same one for 4 yrs- they were moldy, loud, uncomfortable, smelly, extremely unattractive, the food sucks etc etc etc- no neat little "gadgets" makes dorm-life better- I had at some point in those 4 yrs every cute dorm-decorating object and nothing improved my experience in the dorm- lots of memories but I was shell-shocked when I moved into a nice clean new apartment . . .

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • zabrow's picture
    zabrow
    4

    they talked about this yesterday on the radio on my way to my cubicle.

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • syako's picture
    syako
    5

    eek. cubicles. I hate them. Not only do they give you very limited privacy, they also force you to have to hear everything your coworkers are doing/saying/listening to. I hated hearing every single phone conversation of every single person in the office. I love having my own office now with a door and a window to outside (gasp!). Not only is my office personalized, I also have a very private workspace where I can be secluded if need be to finish a huge project AND I don't have to listen to my coworkers' conversations with others all day unless I want to and go out and meet with them on my own.

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • brown_eyed_grrl's picture
    brown_eyed_grrl
    9

    This is off-topic, but I saw the comments about dorms, and I have to say I LOVED my college dorm and the food was great! My experience was much different, but then again, it was a private dorm, so that is probably why I loved it so much.

    Cubes are annoying. Last month I had to listen to my coworker schedule her colonoscopy (and she was not even trying to be discreet). But if you gave me four walls, I probably wouldn't be happy, either. I want out of the whole office environment entirely. Not having a door is the least of my gripes!

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • supercoolnat's picture
    supercoolnat
    11

    Ah yes, the infamous cube. I've really got to work on giving mine more personality. The worst thing is the lack of natural light. I have to peek through an office to see what the weather is like outside, or else I end up going down 4 flights just to find out it's raining.

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • carhornsinapril's picture
    carhornsinapril
    12

    i wish i had a cubicle. i work in a room with the other grunts, and it's terrible. while an office is obviously preferable, i would gladly take a few makeshift walls.

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • valancyjane's picture
    valancyjane
    13

    I have never minded cubes, but it's all relative. When I started my first job, I didn't even have a desk or a dedicated phone line. I had a drawer in a filing cabinet to keep my coffee mug and such, and I sat at a different workstation each night. Then we got desks, and that was heavenly. At my current job I have a cube and it still feels luxurious. It's nothing special (though I do have a coveted window cube) but when I think of what I started with I feel very lucky.

    However, mine is a small department that's sort of off on its own, and my coworkers and I get along pretty well, so I could see how cubes could really be awful. If I had to listen to a colonoscopy conversation, or if mine were one of a hundred cubes on the same floor, it would be quite different.

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • bransugar79's picture
    bransugar79
    14

    Not only do I have a partial yes partial cubicle only surrounded on 2 1/2 sides I work in a basement so I don't have windows at all. I never know what the weather is like until I leave and I can't tell you how many times Ihave been rained on because of it

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • aistea311's picture
    aistea311
    15

    Haha where I currently work, I had a cubicle and there was another desk behind me. I made it personal by putting this huge collage of my fam on the wall that divided us so it was a semi private office, all that was missing was a door Eye-wink Then, this new girl started working here and they decided to take down my precious wall and originally she wanted our desks to face each other. Are you kidding me??? So luckily we are in an l shape, but the worst part is that I go on vacation for a week, come back and they moved my desk to hers and she took over mine! They took down my collage and everything. I was so pissed!!!!!! BTW, I lived in this great dorm my freshman year. It was for a short while but my room was in the center of the building so I had two a/cs going through so it was always cold and we had free phone and cable. The food at the cafe was awesome and I still miss living there because it was before I had a laptop, so I was able to use the computer lab 24/7.

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • Evalicious's picture
    Evalicious
    16

    So I might not be missing anything. I'm not complaining about my office - door, walls, windows. I take my daughter to work with me and I love it. Since I've never experienced cubicles or dorms I still get a little envious.

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • SkinnyMarie's picture
    SkinnyMarie
    17

    I think that is a haworth system.

    I love cubicles. I think people have a bad perception of them based off of what your company allows for them. Being someone who has designed them for companies since 2005 I would like to say how many companies shoot down nontraditional ideas. I now have an office and hate it. The things you hate about cubicles is actually what makes a company thrive. Communication, lack of privacy (force you to feel watched), and they are less expensive then building everyone a damn office and then complaining about not having a window.

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • rabidmoon's picture
    rabidmoon
    18

    I have worked from home for about 7 years now, and I am grateful for it though it has its downsides just as any arrangement will.

    The office I last worked at was only a 2-person one, and I was lucky to have a window. I don't mind cubicles, its nice to have that bit of space, but to never see outside during the day would have bothered me a great deal, so where it was would have mattered.

    When its all said and done I rather work in my own environment!

    23 weeks 6 days ago Report Comment
  • tee0206's picture
    tee0206
    19

    I kind of miss my cubicle! Nowadays, I take a work laptop with me to various hospital emergency departments and plop down where I can find space. It's kind of interesting working from a gurney...

    23 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment
  • verily's picture
    verily
    20

    I work in a cubicle. I don't mind it. It's a way to keep some privacy but still have enough openness to eavesdrop on other conversations. Yes, I'm nosy...plus I'm surrounded by 4 different managers and get a lot of juicy gossip that way.

    I've had high walls and low walls, but currently have high ones. I actually miss the low walls because I think my team was more close-knit when we could shout across the room at each other and still see their faces from our chairs. Sticking out tongue

    Would I like an office? Well, the privacy might be nice and a window would be spectacular, but then I'd feel pretty isolated.

    23 weeks 5 days ago Report Comment

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