If you find yourself irrationally angry at something a coworker is doing, that is not the time to confront her. Wait until you've calmed down and have a clear head. You may decide that you don't even want to confront the person. You don't want to bring up a problem in the presence of twenty coworkers in the break room. However, if you think the confrontation could go badly, you might want to bring someone else along to help mediate or to at least witness the confrontation. You need to be polite but assertive. That is, you don't want to downplay the problem, but you don't want your coworker to feel like you are attacking him. For instance, if the problem is a coworker is playing music too loud, try approaching it this way: "Can I speak to you for a minute? I'm sorry to bother you about this problem, but your music being so loud really distracts me from my work. Is it possible we can find a solution to this problem?" Don't drag in everything you think is wrong with the person. Stick to the facts. Also, don't name call or degrade the other person, as those actions are not professional and reflect badly on you. You can also lower the tension of the situation by cracking a joke. Usually, it's best to make the joke at your own expense, sort of putting you and the other person on the same playing field. That is, when you're bring up something negative about another person, you are creating a negative tension between you two. By cracking a joke, you can help erase some of that tension. For instance, if you've noticed they left a mess again in the kitchen, you could say something such as "I noticed you left a mess in the kitchen. Would you mind cleaning it up? Don't worry, I'm just as bad. I'm such a slob sometimes; they may need to send in an excavation team for my dirty dishes at home, haha." When you need to bring up something negative, try starting and ending positive. That way, your coworker doesn't go on the defensive when you first start talking to him, and he won't leave the conversation with a sour taste in his mouth. For instance, if your coworker won't be quiet about politics, maybe you could say, "I love how enthusiastic you are about your political beliefs. However, you are making some people uncomfortable who don't share your views. Could you maybe save that conversation for after work? It's great how passionate you are; few people care that much." In every relationship, you have to give as much as you take. Therefore, if you're demanding that your coworker give up something, try to offer something in return. For instance, if you ask your coworker to turn her music down, try saying you'll also wear headphones to help the problem. Trying to out-annoy the other person is likely to end badly. For instance, if you don't like that someone is playing her music too loudly, increasing the volume on your music isn't going to solve the problem. Plus, it will get other coworkers annoyed at you. If direct confrontation isn't your thing, you can still find away to approach the problem. One good way to do that is to bring it up in a work meeting as a general office problem. For instance, you could say, "I've noticed the noise level in the office has gone up dramatically lately. Could everyone please pay attention to the amount of noise you're creating?"

Summary: Wait until you're calm. Don't approach the person publicly. Approach your coworker with the problem. Keep it professional. Try a little humor. Bookend the conversation with positive notes. Don't just demand. Don't retaliate. Take a sideways approach.


It's up to you!  Musical Chairs. A Four of Clubs forces everyone to get up from the table, run around once and sit back down in their original spot. The last player to make it back to their spot draws a penalty card. Deuces. A Two requires everyone to touch their middle and index fingers to the table. The last player to do so draws a penalty card. Have a Nice Day. A seven requires the next player to draw a penalty card. Sevens can add up, requiring players to draw 2, 3, 4, etc. penalty cards when multiple 7's are played in a row. Whoever plays it must say "Have a (Very) (Very, Very) (etc.) Nice Day.  Royalty. A King requires a player to say "All Hail the King (of spades)". A Queen requires the player to say "Neeumph" (Queen of Spades). Manners. A person must say "Thank You" when dealt a penalty card. Soap. Any cursing results in a penalty card. Holiday. A six requires a player to say "Merry Christmas". Jacks. A Jack allows a player to change suits (wild card). Spades. Spade cards must be named when played.  Aces. Aces cause the next player to skip their turn. Reverse. An eight causes the turn order to reverse. Rhyme Fest. A nine causes the person who played it to say a word and all other players must say a rhyming word in turn without stating a previously said word. If a player says a non-rhyming word, takes too long to say a rhyming word, or says a previously stated word, he draws a penalty card. Chauncey. If two identical cards are played in succession, everyone must say "Chauncey". The last player to do so draws a penalty card. Diamonds. If any card with a suit of a diamond is played, the person who played it must say "Shine bright like a diamond". Change of Suit. If a person plays a card with a different suit, but the same letter or number as the previous card played (Thus changing the suit), then the person who played the card that would be changing the suit must knock once on the surface of which the game is being played on (Such as a table).

Summary: Choose some or many of the following possibilities to form a part of your game.


While most large companies will run bad checks back through the bank a second time, you probably don't want to incur multiple bank charges for the same check if you are a small business owner or just an individual or organization who is the recipient of a bad check. Contact the person by phone and follow up with an email if you have their address. When you contact the check writer, give him or her a deadline to resolve the problem, usually a week or two. Ask the person to contact you if the deadline isn't convenient and to make arrangements to resolve the issue. If the check writer does not respond within the deadline, send him a letter via certified mail that you will be contacting his local police department, since writing bad checks is considered theft.  If you don't hear from the check writer after the first or maybe second contact, ask your attorney to draft a more formal letter and have it delivered via certified mail.  Only accept cash from the bad check writer to cover the check and your returned check fee so you don't have to worry about more bank charges if a check bounces again or if you run a credit card. They will handle collections on bad checks for you. Their fees are a legitimate business expense and they take the hassle and embarrassment of dealing with bad check writers out of your hands. You can set up these services so bad checks go directly from your bank to the check recovery service. They will then begin electronic collection of the bad check and send you a report.  You usually get 100 percent of the check value and can even get rebates to help you cover your bank charges, depending on your contract with the service. Check recovery service providers include Global Check Recovery, Fiserv, and Check Recovery Systems.
Summary: Contact the check writer directly as soon as a check is returned to you. Keep a record of the date and time you contact the check writer. Subscribe to a check recovery service.