Hey /adv/
Pic related is how my office is set up.
Just ahead and above my desk is a hanging fluorescent tube lighting without any shade (raw bulb) and although nobody else seems to mind it the skin of my face burns every day (it's still burning now) and turns red on my cheeks. I also have to strain my eyes (I wear glasses) and pretty much can't look up since it's so bright, which means I get headaches almost every day.
I asked the guy next to me if he thinks it's a little bright or finds it annoying but he just said he doesn't mind but it's annoying if he looks at it. I was sitting at the desk behind mine (pic related) for like 5 months and had no problems with the lighting there since it's not above the desk.
Would it be autistic / selfish / rude / pathetic if I ask my boss if I could move my pc to my old desk and sit there instead because I'm having to strain my eyes and getting headaches where I'm sat right now?
The thing is he is sitting on the same row with a similar light above him (although he's next to the window) and since it's a "masculine culture" and I'm a pretty quiet guy who doesn't say much I can only imagine I'll be mocked for being "sensitive" or for complaining or demanding special privelege. It's just every day it's the same thing. 8+ hours under these lights and I am irritable, worn out etc. My eyesight in my right eye is already fucked despite the fact it was great before I took this job two years ago. I have very freckly skin and have always been sensitive to heat and sunlight etc but again I'm aware people will think I just want to sit by myself or that I'm being a wimp etc.
Please respond.
Please respond
please respond
Don't ask. State. Say "I need to move desks; this light's been irritating me" and then do it.
have you tried shooting the light out?
>>17004845
The thing is that I'm the youngest person in my office and also nobody else seems to notice or be affected by the light.
I just feel like I'm already viewed as a demanding or overly sensitive person. My boss asked last year if I could work for a month across the city and I asked if I could cut my lunch hour from 1 hour to 30 minutes and arrive at work at 9am (because of the longer commute) instead of 8:30am and he eventually said (not in a mean way at all) that on second thoughts I didn't really need to be there for the whole five days a week and so finally I didn't go.
Also I am a generally depressed and internally miserable and unsatisfied person so I'm not sure if this is affecting my physiologically, though really even now it's almost time to sleep and my cheeks are burning like hell which they never did before.
>>17004731
Wear sunglasses and sunscreen
Ask. It's obviously affecting your productivity. He may bust your balls a bit but odds are he will accommodate you. Your not really asking for anything extra, just to switch desks
>>17004885
I can't wear sunglasses, it's autistic. Sunscreen ruins your skin.
>>17004897
It's just that I feel like I'm demanding special privileges and expecting more than my colleagues, though they don't complain and seem to like being under bright lights for 9 hours a day. I can tell that if I move and people ask why (ask me or each other) and they hear that I complained about the lighting being too bright they'll think "jesus christ will anything make this guy happy?"
>>17004913
Is the culture at your office really so oppressive and awful that you can't even speak up to take care of yourself? Or are you just being a pussy? God damn dude, it sounds like it wouldn't even harm or inconvenience anyone if you moved desks, so TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.
>>17004845
This.
>>17004928
It's a mixture of me being a pussy and my workplace being a place where the boss is an accomodating but old-fashioned guy in that he thinks men should just put with shit and get over it and never complain etc. He thinks eating away from your desk is wimpy even though the lunch hour is unpaid for example.
It just frustrates me that nobody else seems to be bothered by the lighting. I just feel like people view me as someone who just can't be pleased and looks for things to get annoyed about.
I'm just very sensitive to the external world.
On warm days all the windows are closed and some people even put heaters on and wear scarves etc while I have to have a small desk fan on my face all day.
And on days when my boss is away one of the girls puts the radio on but on such a low volume that all that can heard is a song I vaguely identify and then like 75% loud, fast advertisements. It just bugs the shit out of me but people just don't seem fazed.
>>17004943
I appreciate the post and the frank suggestion but again I'm anxious of being viewed as someone who is extremely difficult to please.
One of the guys in my office however complained about the office chairs and brought in his own jockey chair thing which helps with posture, which I suppose is a similar complaint.
Does anyone here have issues with bright lighting etc?
Any more suggestions / advice?
>>17004966
It's your boss's job to fuck you over and neglect your needs as much as he can get away with, because it's cheaper and requires less effort. It's your job not to let yourself get fucked over. This is how the world works. Of course he doesn't WANT his workers complaining and asking for things. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't, especially when it's a request as simple as moving to another desk a few feet away that doesn't even have anyone sitting at it. Just do what you need to do.
>>17004845
No
>>17004731
Just ask. If it's really giving you headaches then it's lowering your productivity.
>>17005138
Ok I will ask. I mean my face is still burning like hell and I haven't been in work for like seven hours. Thanks for responding. I suppose I care too much about what people think about me but I also realize that to be taken seriously I have to conduct myself in a manner which doesn't tempt people to perceive me as childish or demanding or ungrateful etc.
>>17005155
>to be taken seriously I have to conduct myself in a manner which doesn't tempt people to perceive me as childish or demanding or ungrateful etc.
You're really overthinking this. You need to move desks for your own comfort. As far as I can tell, it does not hurt or inconvenience anyone if you switch desks. The hardest part is picking up your computer and putting it down on another desk, in the same room. You could come in early and do this yourself in like half an hour.
A piece of general advice about surviving in the working world: If you allow people to walk all over you, they will. If you're waiting for someone else to give you what you need, you won't get what you need. Advocating for yourself does not make you "childish" or "ungrateful." If you don't learn to do this, your life will always be shit. And "demanding" is not necessarily a negative thing if your demands are reasonable, productive, and possible to achieve.
>>17005191
Thank you again. I really am just very self-defeating mentally I suppose. Since I grew up without a dad I feel a great deal of pressure not to act in a non-masculine way or show any weakness, I just struggle to conduct myself in a masculine environment really and try to remain as inconspicuous as possible. I just feel like if I make any special demands or anything the people around me will hate me or just pity me so much that any interaction I have with them will involve their feigning their kindness towards me. I haven't taken a single day off in two years despite feeling ill at times and I'm starting to accept that this attitude is only benefiting other people. I guess I'm a submissive coward in many respects and I really need to change this if I'm going to live happily, but still it frustrates me that I'm the only one suffering from the lighting thing and that everyone else is likely to be bewildered or annoyed that I'm making an issue out of something they may not have even thought about or noticed.
>>17004731
In any studio I have worked at I negotiate to I will either need an office or folding walls to isolate myself from an open office design.
I cannot work in that type of environment. I can't. It's loud, there are too many people walking around and other distractions. I also can't deal with open areas because they make me incredibly nervous. I need to be in a confined space, quiet, dark space so I can do my work in peace.
As long as I am still close enough to talk and work with the team they agree to it. Put that shit in my contracts.
I fucking hate the new trend of open offices. Fuckin bring back dividers god damnit.
>>17005222
Yeah I hate it too. I mean people walk by all day and my computer monitors shake, plus when people play the radio they put it at a volume where they can't hear the song let alone appreciate it (not that it's music to be appreciated) and it's only on because the girls find silence "creepy". And this light would be fine if there was a shade or something over the bulb but it's just a raw fluorescent light and it feels like I'm working in the sun all day since if I raise my eyes above my monitor the light is in my field of vision and I have to look down again. Plus my desk is white and my keyboard glossy so the light reflects as it would in a desert making the whole place overwhelmingly bright. I understand that I am unnaturally sensitive and that my depression and possible autism may be making things worse but really I thrive best in silent, cool, dim environments.
>>17005216
>everyone else is likely to be bewildered or annoyed that I'm making an issue out of something they may not have even thought about or noticed
But you don't have to "make an issue" out of it, unless your boss really is a massive asshole. You don't even really need to explain your reasoning as much as you have in this thread.
>Can I switch desks? The fluorescent light bugs me, I'd be more productive working at my old desk.
Just get it done quickly and easily, and nobody else will even spare a second thought about it. They've all got their own stuff to worry about, trust me.
