Co-worker sits "criss-cross applesauce" in meetings

[Anonymous]

Unless her vagina (or testicles) are exposed I don’t see your beef here.

[Anonymous]

Many people with back issues and many persons with disabilities sit in unusual postures. So do people with other disorders. This post says so much, really about you. I think you need to get a grip on why you are bothered by someone else’s posture. That’s what’s bizarre.

[Anonymous]

I'm a short, flexible woman who has been a lawyer for over 20 years (big law for many). Sitting with my feet dangling is extraordinarily uncomfortable. Court and client meetings only, for the most part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My big take-away here is that this person is sitting in a way that is distracting others from her valuable input at the meeting. To be sure, there may be no etiquette rules against sitting the way she is; however, the way she is sitting is causing others to focus more on her behavior than her contribution. That is never good.

Now someone will take offense at my statement because they want to dress / sit / curse / whatever any which way they want. That is their right. I'm just pointing out that if you want to be taken seriously in a business environment then you usually should choose to dress, sit, speak and whatever in that environment in a way that shows you want to be taken seriously. I wouldn't wear a clown suit to a funeral and neither would I sit looking dour at a circus. There is a time and place for everything.

If that is your big takeaway, my thought is that you don't have a lot of presence. People listen to me regardless of how I sit because my input is very valuable. Then again, I am generally spending my time in meetings thinking about the issues at hand and not how everyone is sitting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My big take-away here is that this person is sitting in a way that is distracting others from her valuable input at the meeting. To be sure, there may be no etiquette rules against sitting the way she is; however, the way she is sitting is causing others to focus more on her behavior than her contribution. That is never good.

Now someone will take offense at my statement because they want to dress / sit / curse / whatever any which way they want. That is their right. I'm just pointing out that if you want to be taken seriously in a business environment then you usually should choose to dress, sit, speak and whatever in that environment in a way that shows you want to be taken seriously. I wouldn't wear a clown suit to a funeral and neither would I sit looking dour at a circus. There is a time and place for everything.

If that is your big takeaway, my thought is that you don't have a lot of presence. People listen to me regardless of how I sit because my input is very valuable. Then again, I am generally spending my time in meetings thinking about the issues at hand and not how everyone is sitting.

Really? The FP is pointing out that the weird sitter is drawing negative attention to herself because of her own actions and your response is to attack the FP? Yeah, you betcha people "listen to you" because your "input is very valuable", riiiiiiighhht!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Millennials.

Heh - I am the pp short fidgety person. Just turned 45. We Gen Xers are plenty weird, too, ya know.

I think we’re probably weirder than millenials.

[Anonymous]

I sit like this often. I have restless leg syndrome and sitting this way helps.

[Anonymous]

She's not your subordinate, so it isn't your job to say anything about it to her. Just put it from your mind.

[Anonymous]

Obviously this only bothers you as no boss has bothered to say anything about it.

I don't do it but I am short like others here and my legs dangling makes my ankles and feet swell. I just make my chair shorter, I don't worry about appearing "smaller" because I have a big personality and I am definitely seen and heard when necessary.

[Anonymous]

I'm sitting with my left leg pulled up, tucked under my right thigh, and I also do the same with my right tucked under my left thigh. I also have been known to sit (call it what you want: Indian-style, criss-cross-applesauce) here at my desk too. It's very comfortable. Sometimes, I also pull the lower leg up and place it above the other knee, so you know, kind of like a yoga sit? This is all under my desk, but, yeah, I guess I could seem myself doing one of the above at a meeting, under the conference table. I am a 45yo Gen'Xer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sitting with my left leg pulled up, tucked under my right thigh, and I also do the same with my right tucked under my left thigh. I also have been known to sit (call it what you want: Indian-style, criss-cross-applesauce) here at my desk too. It's very comfortable. Sometimes, I also pull the lower leg up and place it above the other knee, so you know, kind of like a yoga sit? This is all under my desk, but, yeah, I guess I could seem myself doing one of the above at a meeting, under the conference table. I am a 45yo Gen'Xer.

PS In all of these situations, I am wearing slacks and flats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Obviously this only bothers you as no boss has bothered to say anything about it.

I don't do it but I am short like others here and my legs dangling makes my ankles and feet swell. I just make my chair shorter, I don't worry about appearing "smaller" because I have a big personality and I am definitely seen and heard when necessary.

Any of you short people try putting a yoga block on the floor to rest your feet on? Seems like that would help. I'm team OP on her particular issue, but am sympathetic to those who can't comfortably sit in office furniture, which is not the case with OP's colleague.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sitting with my left leg pulled up, tucked under my right thigh, and I also do the same with my right tucked under my left thigh. I also have been known to sit (call it what you want: Indian-style, criss-cross-applesauce) here at my desk too. It's very comfortable. Sometimes, I also pull the lower leg up and place it above the other knee, so you know, kind of like a yoga sit? This is all under my desk, but, yeah, I guess I could seem myself doing one of the above at a meeting, under the conference table. I am a 45yo Gen'Xer.

I'll sit criss cross if a table or desk covers my legs, even if it's a meeting. No one can tell anyway (except OP apparently). I had a coworker come in and put his feet up on my desk yesterday. If I can deal with that, OP can MYOB in a non-formal setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What other option exists besides minding your own business? I mean, I’m being completely serious. She knows she’s doing it. You are likely the only one who cares. Are you going to report her?

It's highly unlikely that OP is the only one who cares. Lots of people she meets with would find this extremely unprofessional and distracting. If I were mentoring this person, I would tell her she ought to stop.

OP, what does the boss think?

OP here. I haven't brought it up to the boss, because I know it's really petty of me. Yes, yes. I know it's petty, but I still think she looks unprofessional. I think my boss has bigger fish to fry with this person's behavior, so how she sits in meetings is probably pretty low on her list of priorities.

So I get it. I'll MMOB about it. Can I still silently judge?

Of course! I'm silently judging her along with you.

For those of you who say you do this because your feet don't touch the ground, keep in mind that this seems to be happening mostly at regular staff meetings. Hopefully in your own offices you can ask for, and receive, appropriately-sized chairs for your height. That doesn't seem to be the issue with OP's free-spirited colleague.

I'd love to know where you work that an "appropriately sized chair" (and the accompanying shorter desk that would be required) are options for us shorties. I did get a foot rest after I had made a casual comment about my feet not touching the floor to my manager, which I really appreciated. I don't use it, but it was nice of him to try to do something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously this only bothers you as no boss has bothered to say anything about it.

I don't do it but I am short like others here and my legs dangling makes my ankles and feet swell. I just make my chair shorter, I don't worry about appearing "smaller" because I have a big personality and I am definitely seen and heard when necessary.

Any of you short people try putting a yoga block on the floor to rest your feet on? Seems like that would help. I'm team OP on her particular issue, but am sympathetic to those who can't comfortably sit in office furniture, which is not the case with OP's colleague.

Seriously? That seems pretty high-maintenance. If one of my colleagues walked in to toting their own personal yoga block to every meeting, lol, you can rest assured everyone at my office, myself included, would be thinking this person was really high-maintenance and weird!!