Babies making noises, the nerve...

It was recently brought to my attention that a colleague of mine complained that she could hear my 4 month old in the background. Let's put aside for a moment, the fact that my office is one level above where he spends most of his day, that I have a noise cancelling headset and full time help, and just spend a moment on the idea that baby noise is so offensive.

I have been a work from home employee for more years than I have fingers to count on, and I can tell you that during my professional career I have heard a variety of background noise that have always been interesting. These have included, but aren't limited to: toilets flushing, dogs barking, televisions blaring, vacuum cleaners running, doorbells ringing, mail men/delivery men talking, folks arguing and others laughing out loud. I've also hear microwaves ding, sirens, dishes rattle, jackhammers, people eating, people brushing their teeth and water running. I wonder where on the scale of offensive does a baby cooing actually fall?

I'm not sure if we've so isolated ourselves in our home offices to the point where we have forgotten that background noise used to be quite the norm. Any busy office would regularly have phones ringing, voices buzzing, copy machines running, people conversing and papers rustling. Are we so disconnected from each other that the slightest background noise sends us to complain to management? Are we going to require sound proofing now as a condition of employment? What if you live in an apartment? Is it your fault your neighbor decides to jam on his drum set while you're in the middle of a call?

Let's face it. We're way past the point where our private and professional lives blur. No one works bankers hours any more (not even the poor bankers). So to spend time complaining about silly things like background noise when the mute button is taken off to utter a sentence to me, is just a waste of energy. I guess next time I should put my son in the backyard and just flush the toilet. Maybe that's less offensive.