Here's the thing about jobs.

Work too much and you'll be fine. Work too little and you'll be fine. Care too much and you'll be miserable, and so will everyone around you.

Such is the case with the unhappy employee who wrote to Alison Green, the workplace advice columnist for New York magazine.

"The new hires are driving me up the wall," the disgruntled letter writer explained, summing up his frustration with "new hires who are recent college grads, all under the age of 24."

What's so annoying about the newbies?

They "stand in huddles and chitchat for half an hour or more." They also "take advantage of hotdesking and hop from desk to desk three or four times a day," and "yell to each other across the office." Perhaps worst of all, they don't understand that "ripped jeans are not 'business casual.'"

(If you feel yourself getting hot under the collar over the antics of this "bunch of kindergartners," I sympathize. The exasperated letter writer is 29 years old. I can't imagine what conduct like this feels like to old-timers, who are 30 or 35. For the truly ancient, the 40-or-over set, such behavior would surely be enough to cause severe palpitations.)

The question here is whether the frustrated employee should bring these concerns to their boss. Alison Green's answer is straightforward: Stop caring so much. The hijinks of the newbies are "something their manager can address if they want to, but it's not on you to handle."

In other words, mind your own beeswax.

Exceptions can be made, Green allows, but only for behavior that "more directly impacts you, like the yelling and the constant chatting." Really? I know you would find it impossible to work with people who are wearing torn jeans, and I don't blame you. I find it difficult to work no matter what people are wearing, and, I have to admit, getting anything done on Naked Thursdays does take concentration. (Pro tip: a blindfold helps.)

As for taking a complaint to management, it's never a smart career move. A boss may very well decide to resolve the issue by replacing the 29-year-old with a much cheaper 24-year-old. Or two!

Besides, there are better ways to change your co-workers' behavior to your liking. For example:

No. 1: If you can't beat them...

Show the newbies how inappropriate they look by taking a pair of shears to your Tory Burch wrap dress or running the lawn mower over your best Ralph Lauren blazer. And, let's face it, when you put your mind to it, no one can out-chitchat you. Regale them with stories of your hard-fought victory in the sixth-grade science fair. Describe, in detail, your breathtaking trip to Home Depot. When the newbies understand how terrible it is to work with someone as boring as you, they will clam up for sure.

No. 2: Don't discourage; encourage

If you find yourself working with jerks, teach them how to be even more jerky. Explain that their fun-loving manager gets a real kick when greeted in the morning with water balloons. Encourage them to develop rapport with the boss by using endearing pet names, like "Pumpkin," "Nibbles" and "Poo-poo Head." They'll immediately apologize when they see the boss's reaction, but it will be too late. They're as good as gone.

No. 3: Being annoying is a two-way street

Let's face it, when you put your mind to it, no one can be more annoying than you. If your co-workers are acting young, you should act old. Really, really old. Share detailed descriptions of your morning aches and nighttime pains. Talk about how music today is just a bunch of noise and incoherent mumbling. Explain at length how digital music is far inferior to vinyl. (It's because vinyl's dynamic compression of frequency response limits quantization noise, as everyone knows.) Insist that there hasn't been a decent singer since Engelbert Humperdinck (it's true, you know.)

The youngsters won't agree with you on any of these matters, but they will leave you alone.

Of course, the best way to handle your annoying co-workers is not to care about them. It's not your responsibility to teach newbies how to behave at a job; it's your responsibility to keep your job. And these immature goofballs can help. Their shenanigans make you look better and your boss — who hired them — look worse. In other words, it's a win-win.

And that is something worth caring about.

Bob Goldman was an advertising executive at a Fortune 500 company. He offers a virtual shoulder to cry on at bob@bgplanning.com. To find out more about Bob Goldman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: milivigerova at Pixabay