Think you work in a cramped, depressing cubicle? Check out the winners of Wired’s recent Saddest Cubicle Contest and you may start to feel a little bit better about your own work digs. My personal favorite is the pathetic workspace that’s been jerry-rigged out of old filing cabinet drawers (Photo 2 of 11). Some of the others actually don’t look much worse than my own cubicle homes from back in the day.

Actually, the average cubicle has been getting smaller. Some managers say that more open workspaces with no privacy encourage collaboration and keep employees on their toes. And it’s true that some cubicles – the large, well-lit ones, for example – can be decent work environments. But even the inventor of the cubicle, Bob Propst of office furniture innovator Herman Miller, said he never meant for them to be used the way they are today — as "barren, rat-hole places" in Propst’s words.

What’s so bad about working in cozy little cubes?

• The noise: I don’t need to hear my coworkers sneeze, gossip about the latest episode of The Hills, or have loud speaker-phone arguments with their spouses. This does not make me feel more collaborative.

• The smells: People with heavy workloads like to eat lunch at their desks. Often, they eat tuna. Others spend their lunch hour at the gym and save time by skipping that annoying post-workout shower. Still others favor bold personal scents that do not mix well with old tuna and B.O.

• The distractions: It’s hard to focus on work with the noise, the smells, and the constant visits from coworkers, bosses, random passersby and habitual hoverers. For those working on tasks that require focus and concentration, a cubicle environment can be a nightmare.

• The lack of privacy: It’s hard to preserve a dignified professional image when your coworkers can eavesdrop on your phone calls from your doctor, your accountant, and your bikini waxer. And I really don’t need to know about Linda from Sales’ preference for the full Brazilian or about Ted from Accounting’s foot fungus. Really, we should all be taking care of that sort of business on our personal time. But that’s assuming that we have any personal time in the average work day.

Do you have any other cubicle pet peeves? Do share. Do you have a dingy little cube that puts the Wired winners to shame? Do send photos.