I've mentioned a few times that I have a heightened startle reflex (a fancy way of saying that I'm jumpy), so people around me are fairly used the idea that I'm always going to jump whenever they make their presence known.

I'm used to totally concentrating when I work, probably because I work from home most of the week. That said, when I'm in the office, I tend to be in my own little world as I work and so it's easy for people to sneak up on me. When they do, I jump.

My typical response is, "wow- you caught me surfing porn at work". Of course, that's not true- I save that for home (KIDDING, Mom and Dad!), but I think it's just a funny thing to say when I'm startled at work. You know, because people would usually have that reaction because they're doing something wrong. Last time I checked, there's nothing wrong about working hard.

::shrugs shoulders::

It never really occurred to me that the guy on the other side of my cube wall might not know that I'm joking, which is probably why he gives me funny looks sometimes.

He probably thinks I am the biggest slacker/porn surfer that walked the face of the earth.

I think I'll just let him keep on believing it. I think that having a slacker/porn-surfing worker for a neighbor probably makes him feel like he's doing a mighty fine job at work in comparison.

Consider it part of my effort in raising my fellow employees' self-esteem, one co-worker at a time.