The guy who swallow the mike

Our little department is currently squating between the Regional Audit and the Regional Security team. The term squating is loosely used to indicate the delicate predicament that necessitated the flight or fight situation that we are in. Very deep huh? I also don't know what I am talking about. In short, it simply means we are sitting at where we do not belong and terkepit between 2 police inspectors. So we cannot utter words like :-

• Can I borrow your password? Mine died.
• Eh? I can't find the document leh? Lost ar?
• Can I not do this document?

Inviting trouble only. However, no matter how we try to appear invisible we still got complain for :-

• We use concall at our workstations.
• We have open discussions at our workstations.
• We are talk too loud.

That is what happens when you are squating. So I had to give a long lecture to my team members. Nevertheless we tone down. Survival mah.. you don't want to piss the auditors and they start auditing you. Bad Omen.

Once you are quiet, you suddenly notice things are previously not noticeable. Like for instance, I never notice the guy 2 workstations away talk over the phone like he swallow the mike when he was young. In fact the talk so loud that, everyone with a radius of 5 meter and including the person on the other side of my phone heard him loud and clear. Today my vendor complain to me :-

In a whisper**

Vendor : Eh, did it ever irritate you?

Me : You mean the guy over there?

Vendor : *nod vigorously* Why he talk so loud one... It's so loud like... like... like..

Me : Like he swallow a mike right?

Vendor : Ya ya.. how can you stand it.

Me: *show vendor headphones*

Vendor : OH.... I will bring my Nokia peripheral device tomorrow.

Actually the term "talk like he swallow a mike" originated from Nite :)