What would you do
Would you continue to sit there at your desk working (or chatting on IM) without trying to do something about it? Even if you ended up hiccupping every 5 seconds for the next 45 minutes? Would you not get up and get some water to try to stop it? Would you not be embarassed that everyone could hear you?
Sometimes, even the old "never-fail" methods for getting rid of hiccups don't work. I've had them at work and done everything I could think of, and they wouldn't stop. Do you think I should have gone home? I'm pretty sure my employer wouldn't buy into that.
Obviously, this is something that really gets under your skin. Try to ignore it when your co-worker starts hiccupping. Just be thankful YOU'RE not the one with persistant hiccups (they hurt!).
Also, you could try offering to get the person a drink of water or a cough drop (Halls Mentholyptus helps a lot of things).
WB
It isn't like there is anything you can do about hiccups. If I'm the boss, I don't want you to take a 45 minute break while you wait for them to pass. Keep working unless it is so disruptive you can't talk on the phone, in which case you should find something else to do in the meantime.
Tess
If I could not get rid of hiccups, I would tell my office manager.
One of the admins in my office had the hiccups about a week ago and couldn't get rid of them. It was about 3 hours and she went home with them. She sat at her desk and got up a couple of times, but kept hiccupping.
Hey IT-
I'd try to control them and or get rid of them as quietly as possible. If my performance were compromised, I'd tell my boss and offer to make up the work for any down time.
I have to endure everyone else's burps, chews, slurps, and gas, on a daily basis so they can take an occasional hiccup from me, if that ever transpires.
Just my 2 cents.
Peace,
TG
Oh, I wasn't referring to me in my original post. Was wondering if my annoying co-worker was behaving reasonably or not, heh.
Oops-my bad -You have my sincerest apologies for totally missing the point.
In that case, if it appeared to me that if they were just going to sit there and hiccup, I'd probably offer the suggestion of "hey, why don't you go get some water?", or something like that. I'd try to be as courteous and polite as possible, but after a while, I think I'd have to get firm.
Peace,
TG
I find the only surefire cure for hiccups is holding your breathe while tilting your ribcage so that it presses into your abdomen. Next time your neighbor gets a fit saunter over and suggest that she try it.
But, yes, I'd sit at my desk and continue to work.
I get the hiccups when I eat and do not drink water or other liquids (not alochol). To stop the hiccups, I drink a small glass of water and it that usually stops it. But to let your hiccups go on at your cubicle is not only rude for your co-workers but must be irritating to the person suffering from hiccups.
If I hear someone with the hiccups and they do not do anything to clear it up, I tell them to go get a drink of water.