When did we become so concerned about trivial things at work?

September 11, 2026 — 5:00am

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There is no written rule for a starting time at our work, but most of us start at 9am. Two of my colleagues sometimes come into the office after that time.

Recently, I’ve noticed a growing number of other colleagues are grumbling about this later starting time. Just to clarify, both of these colleagues have good reasons to start when they do. They also both do very good work.

At first I thought it was just a bit of grumpiness that would die down, but now it’s a consistent moan and it drives me crazy! Where has this come from? When did we become so concerned with work trivia?

I think people being concerned with trivialities has been a problem for as long as modern workplaces have existed. It’s probably been a problem since people have worked together full stop. So on the question of when, I’m not sure it’s a recent phenomenon. But let’s look at your specific case a bit more closely.

To me, the whole thing boils down to a simple question: are these colleagues doing their job well? Or, to put it a........

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