Dear clean freaks, I was watching a documentary on clean freaks, and they stated that only 20 percent of the population are clean freaks, and another 20 percent are truly messy. Yet, we the people (the other 60 percent of the population) allow the clean freaks to harass and badger us. They are the tyrants yet we put up with their sickly obsessions. My desk has several piles. It is an extension of my mind. Almost every pile of work is “pending response” from Mr. Clean Freak who is too busy cleaning his desk to provide me with the information needed to finalize my pending work. —If He Stopped Cleaning, My Desk Would Be Clean
This article appears in Jun 7-13, 2012.
There’s a HUGE difference between being messy and being dirty.
Sometimes I’m messy at home/work because I simply don’t have the time to clean, but my workspace/home is never dirty.
I had a neighbour in rez who was one of the neatest people I’ve ever met, but she was dirty as fuck. *shudder*
PS: Your last point about the clean freak getting nothing done is a great one. Too busy organizing and cleaning to actually get shit done.
Guess what, OB, they are probably harassing and badgering you because your desk looks like a cesspool shit house. Several piles attract lots of dust, dead skin cells etc.
Your “extension” of your mind makes me shudder. (PS I’m clean, but my place is not always neat)
Maybe you have ” responses” pending because they don’t want to visit your bio hazard.
Hey OP, say “clean freak” some more why don’t ya.
if your work gets done timely and professionally, what does it matter what the fucking desk looks like?
I’ve blown up a few times about this. It’s ridiculous…
if you want it to look like a prison cell, then fine but I like to have a few things on my desk…
BTW, they’ve said that non-clean freaks are more productive and thus smarter for this exact reason…
they don’t waste all their fucking time tidying and cleaning… worrying about cleaning… dreaming of cleaning.
a little clutter never hurt anyone.. so long as you’re still decently clean (in the bacterial sense)
it’s like messy hair is fine but not dirty
A little mess and even a little dirt ain’t gonna kill you – in fact, it’ll probably help your immune system to have a little mix. The only thing I have to say about clean freaks is that they should engrave on their tombstone: ‘I Kept A Nice Desk’. All that cleaning and buffing is just big waste of valuable life.
but o.p., cleanliness is next to me, didn’t you ever hear?
Neat freaks are fucking Nazis, they can’t conceive of anything not neat and tidy. I’ve worked for people like this. If they ran a hospital, they’d write up the surgeons for getting too much blood on the operating table.
There is nothing wrong with a little mess and a little dirt, that’s life. If you do your job well and you’re happy, that’s what matters and those nutjobs can just stow it.
I’ve worked with a few Anal Andys – they are soooo much fun to ridicule and so easy to piss off.
to true..
just keep putting everything on their desk at 30-45 degree angles and watch their head explode.
I’m a clean freak, but I try to keep my obsessions to myself. They get worse when slobpigs invade my space, so everyone just stay away from the clean freaks mmkay?
I had a friend in college who was/is a neat freak. I learned to exploit her Teutonic sense of order by getting her to clean my room.
Lesson: If you can’t beat em, get em to work for you!