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Ask HN: Trivial etiquette question - can he touch my laptop screen?

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Re: Ask HN: Trivial etiquette question - can he touch my laptop screen?

#81

Post by TweedHeads »

TweedHeads wrote: post #24
TweedHeads wrote: post #20

Create a funny web page and have it bookmarked on your browser. Whenever someone approaches you, quickly switch to that web page. donttouchmyfuckingscreenorillkillyou.com is available.

This bookmarklet may help: javascript:document.write(" Don't touch my screen! ")

Also this one (Firefox only)

  javascript:(function (){document.querySelector("body").style.MozTransform="rotate(180deg)";})()

Re: Ask HN: Trivial etiquette question - can he touch my laptop screen?

#82

Post by bfinch »

Interesting to see all the followups. I had no idea that anyone cared about this. Reminds me of guys who don't like people touching their cars. I'd encourage all the folks advising the OP to be curt or to ostentatiously rub out the smudge to imagine a guy in a polo shirt wearing Ray-Bans. Perhaps his collar is turned up. Now imagine this man behaving the same way after someone touches the finish on his Corvette. You are the geek equivalent of that guy.

Re: Ask HN: Trivial etiquette question - can he touch my laptop screen?

#84

Post by IsaacSchlueter »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #74
IsaacSchlueter wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, exactly. "Please don't touch my screen" has always worked fine for me. Especially if you get it out quick before they actually make contact, always say it politely, and make sure that you repeat the warning 100% of the time that there's a finger heading towards the screen. "Hey, you see that thing right--" "Please don't touch my screen." "I didn't touch it, though." "I know. Thank you. Please keep it that way."…

We clearly have very different ideas of what "polite" means. Your little exchange makes you come off sounding like a prized asshole. And, seriously, what kind of unevolved cretin can't communicate without pointing anyway? This is ridiculous. Pointing serves a very useful purpose in communication, and is often far more efficient than verbal cues. Have you really never pointed at anything while trying to communicate so…

Yes, I know what pointing accomplishes. But it's also very effective to communicate without marking up my screen in greasy finger prints. Everyone — everyone — who thinks that they can point at something on a screen effectively without touching it, is just fooling themselves. You will touch my screen if you point at it, and I'll know you touched it, because your fingerprint will be there, painted in disgusting finger grease distorting my beautiful pixels. Maybe not every time, but most of the time.

There is a place for prized asshole behavior. Frankly, touching someone's screen when it clearly bothers them is pretty damn rude, imo. If the only way to get them to stop is to make them uncomfortable doing it in your presence, that seems fair to me.

I'd react roughly the same way if someone rubbed their genitals on my screen while I was using it. It's that offensive to me. (Actually, I wouldn't mind the genitals quite as much. They're probably cleaner.)

Re: Ask HN: Trivial etiquette question - can he touch my laptop screen?

#85

Post by andrewljohnson »

Well, my girlfriend and co-founder flips out whenever I touch her monitor. I understand where she's coming from, and we're still together, so you can probably get away with warding off your co-workers paws.

This assumes of course that they don't harbor some secret dislike for you, such that your complaints might touch off an avalanche of retribution that leaves you jobless, homeless, and pariahed by society at large.

Re: Ask HN: Trivial etiquette question - can he touch my laptop screen?

#86

Post by IsaacSchlueter »

__david__ wrote: post #69

I see a lot of posts from the anal retentive crowd. Here's the opposite opinion: I think it's ok to touch laptop screens. I touch my own and if I'm interested enough in pointing something out I may touch yours because at that point I'm at a completely different place mentally and not thinking about your little quirks. One of my co workers stressed out every time I touched his screen but it didn't make me stop. I'd av…

I've learned that people like you exist, and there is an easy way to deal with them. Simply flat-out refuse to engage in a meaningful dialog unless you stop touching my fucking screen. In fact, I'll even get up and walk away if necessary. ("How about we go discuss this at your monitor?")

It's not about the expense, and calling it a pet peeve is very dismissive. It's about respect and personal space more than anything else.

Consider this: I'm more comfortable without pants on. When I work from home, in my own space, I'm usually not wearing pants. But when I come into the office, I put on pants, because I have some modicum of respect for the people I work with, and I know that pantslessness is going to make people uncomfortable.

Your behavior doesn't bother you, but ignoring the fact that it bothers others is the very definition of rudeness. Do you also lick strangers?

Re: Ask HN: Trivial etiquette question - can he touch my laptop screen?

#87

Post by IsaacSchlueter »

planckscnst wrote: post #68

Wow. I must admit that I'm guilty of being a screen-toucher. It's not out of ignorance or disrespect or anything like that; I've been around computers my whole life. I have no idea why I do it, but I've even done it a couple of seconds after someone asked me not to. I don't get annoyed at all at people when they tell me not to, I get embarrassed and sometimes annoyed at myself for having done it (especially if it's r…

You should just not have conversations near other people's monitors about what's on their monitors. Ask them to come to your cube, or take a screenshot and circle the spot in question.

Re: Ask HN: Trivial etiquette question - can he touch my laptop screen?

#88

Post by tsally »

IsaacSchlueter wrote: post #84
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We clearly have very different ideas of what "polite" means. Your little exchange makes you come off sounding like a prized asshole. And, seriously, what kind of unevolved cretin can't communicate without pointing anyway? This is ridiculous. Pointing serves a very useful purpose in communication, and is often far more efficient than verbal cues. Have you really never pointed at anything while trying to communicate so…

Yes, I know what pointing accomplishes. But it's also very effective to communicate without marking up my screen in greasy finger prints. Everyone — everyone — who thinks that they can point at something on a screen effectively without touching it, is just fooling themselves. You will touch my screen if you point at it, and I'll know you touched it, because your fingerprint will be there, painted in disgusting finger…

There is a place for prized asshole behavior.

Probably not. There's always a better way to say something. Acting like an asshole is just a fallback for not understanding how to effectively communicate. I'd be annoyed at a coworker if I had the dialogue you posted above with him/her.

Re: Ask HN: Trivial etiquette question - can he touch my laptop screen?

#89

Post by jaxn »

IsaacSchlueter wrote: post #86
__david__ wrote: post #69

I see a lot of posts from the anal retentive crowd. Here's the opposite opinion: I think it's ok to touch laptop screens. I touch my own and if I'm interested enough in pointing something out I may touch yours because at that point I'm at a completely different place mentally and not thinking about your little quirks. One of my co workers stressed out every time I touched his screen but it didn't make me stop. I'd av…

I've learned that people like you exist, and there is an easy way to deal with them. Simply flat-out refuse to engage in a meaningful dialog unless you stop touching my fucking screen. In fact, I'll even get up and walk away if necessary. ("How about we go discuss this at your monitor?") It's not about the expense, and calling it a pet peeve is very dismissive. It's about respect and personal space more than anything…

There is a comment above about people being so attached to inanimate objects, you comment kinda solidifies that for me. It is a laptop, not your person (or my person, I won't let people touch my screen either).
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