I used to imagine difficult co-workers as literal forces of nature. The natural impulse is to take notice, engage--"Oh my God, guys, are you seeing this?! There's a tiny tornado in the back office and the fax machine is literally spinning around in the air! I gotta get in there and chain it down or something!" Totally natural, normal instinct.

Unfortunately, it also gets you in the middle of the storm. So instead of talking about this bizarre whether phenomena, or rushing in to try and control the chaos it creates, I stop at the door and ask myself, "Do I need the fax machine right now?"

Not, "Is somebody going to need the fax machine?" or "I'd prefer to use the fax machine" or "I want to use the fax machine," But "Do I NEED to use the fax machine right NOW, this very second, in order to do my job?"

If the answer to that is "No," then I don't go in the back office. **** it. Not my problem. Not my job. Not my business. I don't even talk about it, because what on earth does it have to do with me? Nothing. Not until I 100% NEED to send a fax. And with a little planning and a moderate amount of luck, I won't NEED to do that until the storm is over.

Anyway, I hope you find something that works.