mock not, lest ye be mocked

It has been a long running joke in our office that the business manager talks to himself. His office is situated just off the main office entryway, and throughout the day, we can hear him talking. It's frequently difficult to discern if he's talking to one of us secretaries or to himself, and it has taken me years to learn it's safer not to respond to him--if he's really talking to me, he'll say it again!

Tom is now on vacation, and I'm using his office while he's away. I've learned a very valuable lesson: what goes around comes around, and it's now my turn to be mocked. Tom's office seems to have some sort of sound amplification properties because everything that I say can be heard by people in the main office.  Throughout the day, my mom has often burst into giggles. Why? Because I've said something--quietly--that she heard. And apparently, I talk to myself a lot more than I ever thought! I'm now hyper-conscious of what I say. I feel like I'm stifling myself.

To top it off, apparently the magic office amplification doesn't work both ways, and I can barely hear the people in the main office. When someone talks to me, I respond quite loudly, thinking that because I can't hear them, they can't hear me. My volume makes my mother laugh even harder.

When Tom returns, I'll probably still chuckle when he says something to himself ... but I'll be chuckling with compassion, as someone who has been there!