Workplace Drama

Work was a little bit better today, yet I can’t see how some people think I can do everything when I’m trying to do one at a time. I know they say you can’t be in two places at once but it feels like they think I can. I know my coworkers are trying to bass especially the last few months but with summer coming in everyone’s going crazy I don’t know how I can last. Plus I don’t know if my coworkers are thinking right I’m doing what they want me to do but at the same time They are not doing much either. I’m not saying they’re their work clothes too much for them but when you have people thinking you can do everything for you it does not help. I might be whining a bit, but that’s how I feel right now.

I've been workin at the same company for over four years now, and honestly, it still feels like I'm the odd one out. I’ve done my job, stayed late when needed, never caused any trouble, but still… something feels off. Like, when I walk into a room, conversations pause for a sec. When there’s a group lunch or afterwork drink thing, I’m always the last to hear about it—if I even hear at all. I try to tell myself it’s just in my head, but man, it keeps happening. It’s not that they’re openly rude or hostile, but there’s a vibe, you kno? Like I’m not really part of the team, just someone they have to tolerate. And the worst part is, I don’t even know what I did wrong.

I’ve tried to be nice. I smile, I say good morning, I ask people how their weekend went. Some just nod, others give half replies and walk off. Meanwhile I see them having inside jokes, sending memes in the group chat I’m barely part of, planning lunch together while I sit alone at my desk pretending not to notice. It’s draining. I’ve wondered a million times if it’s something about my face, my voice, the way I talk. Am I too quiet? Too weird? Maybe I came off as stuck-up when I first joined and now they just kept that opinion. But I swear I didn’t do anything to deserve this cold shoulder treatment. It’s like being invisible and watched at the same time.

Meetings are even worse. I’ll share an idea, and it’s like no one hears it—until someone else repeats the same thing five minutes later and suddenly it’s brilliant. I’ll send a message in the team chat, and no one replies, but the same question from someone else gets five thumbs-up and a laughing emoji. I keep my head down, keep doing the work, and still feel like I don’t belong. When there’s group work, I get picked last, like school all over again. It’s not even subtle. I once walked into the break room and heard my name—then silence. I smiled and said hey anyway, and they just mumbled and walked out. I felt so dumb standing there, pretending I didn’t feel that.

I’ve thought about leaving. So many times. But I’ve built things here. I’ve worked on good projects, had moments where I felt proud. And starting over somewhere else? Scary. What if the same thing happens there? What if it's not them—what if it’s me? That thought haunts me more than anything. Like maybe I’m just not likable. Maybe there’s something wrong with me that I can’t see but everyone else can. I try to fix things. I joined their stupid fantasy football league even though I hate it. I brought donuts on a Friday. No one even said thanks. I keep tryin and tryin, but nothing changes. It’s exhausting.

Sometimes I just wish someone would tell me the truth. Even if it hurt. Just say, “Hey, you’re too blunt” or “You don’t listen enough” or something. At least then I’d know what to work on. But this silence, this fake politeness? It’s worse. It’s like death by a thousand cuts. I don’t want to be the guy everyone avoids. I don’t want to feel like this. I’m just trying to work, to have a few decent connections, maybe a friend or two. But here I am, four years in, and I still eat lunch alone most days. So yeah, maybe people don’t like me. I wish I knew why. I really do.

I have a day at work and not gonna go in much detail, but let’s just say I made a mistake and yet everyone makes it feel like the stupidest idea I ever had. We are meeting. We cleared everything out, but I’m now feeling like I’m the bad guy all over again. Even my parents think that I did something stupid even though I can’t help it at times it’s just that I think what bugs me the most lately is the crying of others that makes me feel like I can’t stop it. They’re going to make it worse for me and I hate seeing crying. Everybody’s gonna blame me for one little thing. But I know a mistake. But it gets hard going to get this pressure specially from the people you’re working with cause they’re saying on their butts and not doing anything and you’re trying to do your best. I guess sometimes your best is not the greatest. Hopefully next week will be better.

my boss texted me this holiday at 7am!! just asked me to send a quick message to an agent and this exchange lasted for roughly 10minutes. now Im just worried that if I keep doing this, then it will not only be 10minutes but hours someday. I dont know if its okay to oblige to requests like this on a holiday even if it took me only 10minutes to talk with the agent. is it okay to accommodate simple requests like this if you are on vacation? my boss tends to scold us in our group chat if we dont respond immediately and attend to matters. to be honest, the message wasnt even urgent at all. its a national holiday and everyone is on vacation!!

i just feel like a complete failure lately. i’m 25, been working in IT for three years now, and every single day feels like i’m just fallin further and further behind everyone else. when i first got the job, i was excited, proud even. i thought i had made it, like all the hard work at university was finally paying off. but it didn’t take long to realize that i’m not even close to being on the same level as my coworkers. they fix things in minutes that would take me hours, they talk about complex stuff like AI integration, server security, backend architecture like it’s nothin and i’m just sittin there nodding like i understand when really my brain is just screaming "what are they even saying??". i’ve tried, like really tried, staying late, taking online courses, practicing coding at night when all i want to do is sleep, but it never feels like enough. it’s like there’s this wall between me and everyone else’s skills and no matter how hard i hit it, i cant break through. and now with AI getting better and better, i’m scared outta my mind. like what if they realize they don’t need someone like me anymore? what if some smart system can do my job faster, cheaper, better? sometimes i can barely breathe thinking about it, the panic just sittin heavy in my chest. a few weeks ago my manager called me in for a review and it was awful, he didn’t yell or anything but the words hurt worse, like he was disappointed, like he expected more outta me by now. he said i needed to "step up" and "take more ownership of my projects" but all i heard was "you’re not good enough" over and over in my head. i nodded, said all the right things, promised to work harder but inside i just felt numb. and ever since then, i’ve been walking around like a ghost, second guessing every single thing i do, terrified that one wrong move and they’ll just cut me loose. some nights i lay there staring at the ceiling thinking about what i’ll do if i lose this job, and honestly, i don’t have an answer. i don’t have a backup plan. i dont even have much savings. it’s not like companies are lining up to hire some average IT guy when AI can write code faster and cleaner than i ever could. i used to love tech, used to get excited about new updates and cool stuff being invented, but now it just feels like a countdown to when i get replaced. it’s exhausting, feeling like you’re drowning every single day and pretending you’re fine just to survive a little longer. and the worst part is i feel like it’s all my fault, like if i was smarter, faster, better, i wouldn’t be in this mess. i don’t know how much longer i can fake it, how much longer i can keep telling myself that tomorrow will be the day i finally catch up. because deep down, i’m starting to realize that maybe i won’t. maybe this is just who i am—a failure trying to keep up in a world that’s moving faster than i ever could.

At work, someone had big news and they were telling everyone about it. So I thought they said something to a two people that come every day in the afternoon to help out. When I mention this to them, they were shocked but it was not supposed to be me to say this. I thought the person I told them. And now I got a little lecture next time let me say this. The thing is I can’t minds and every time I get that look like why did you do that? It gets me down like I didn’t know that you want to tell them let me know next time. Yet I didn’t say that to them. I want to, but I can’t. It makes me feel like why tell me this or let me know that you want to say this to them, it’s kinda hard to have this, knowing what to say the fact is, I wanna tell these two workers that it it’s something important and they might wanna bring a gift for them. That’s all I know I might be the bad guy in this but in my point of view when I ever get these things or say the wrong thing, you didn’t tell me that you want to say this first or this is private please don’t tell anyone because I get mixed singles and I blur it out. It might not be great, but if you give me more detail, then it’ll be easier for everyone.

Compared to most of the problems in my life right now, this feels pretty low on the totem pole. But I don’t feel like anyone I’ve talked to about it can understand, and I’m feeling crazy because I’m the problem!?! Okay. So I have this friend. Sorta… let’s start at the beginning. I have a really good friend in my Geology major, let’s call her Glasses. And this good friend met another girl, let’s call her Hammer. Glasses and Hammer became pretty good friends. And from there we formed a little trio of sorts. That’s the short version at least. Hammer then met another girl, let’s call her Miss Perfect. And we would all hang out and we had a good group going. But, miss perfect and I never really clicked. I liked her as a person, but the gears never really aligned or something cause as soon as it was just us two we never had anything to really say. And I’d call her a friend, but definitely not close. That’s the general background. Anyway, I really pride myself on my acedemics. I’ve always been an A student, someone who’s always got the answer, who puts in the work, has a fun idea, understands the concept. You know. Typical geek. But geology’s my passion you know! I’m gonna really try and put my best foot forward. And I’m good at it. I’m a really good geologist… but Miss Perfext, it always felt like she would do better. Or at least people would praise her for being the best. I honesty feel like we are equals. But somehow, she’s always the one to get the praise or the recognition. For some reason, she’s always the better one. And it’s infuriating in a major where there’s only 20 people, cause why can’t I just beat her?!? And there have been times where I have, but they seem to be outweighed with her getting a better score or picked for a team assignment over me or whatever! And it really wasn’t that big of a problem in school. Because we had a different enough schedule where it wasn’t that big of a deal and it wasn’t in every class and I knew at some point I would not be in school with her and it wouldn’t really matter in the long run. I loved my work and that was good enough for me. But now… ok so I graduated last summer, and Hammer and I got a job at the same place. And it’s a good job. Sorta geology related and such so I feel it’s a good stepping stone before grad school and other jobs moving forward. But this summer..: Miss perfect applied and got the job. And I just don’t want to feel like I need to keep competing with her in my work place! Because what if she gets promoted over me?! What if they think she’s so much better than me and I get lumped with the geotechs where no geology is done at all and she’s out with the real geologists doing the real science?! When I’ve been there longer? Im not hoenslty that passionate about this company but it kinda upsets me! Because Hammer and Miss Perfext are closer together that I am with Hammer. So not only will it feel like I need to prove myself when I shouldn’t need to feel that way, I also don’t want to feel like a third wheel! And they’re moving in together! Ugh! So there. And when I ask my boyfriend, he just says, comparison is the thief of joy, which is a real fuck you if you ask me.

I always thought the hardest part of my journey was behind me. All those late-night study sessions, the coffee-fueled exams, the internships, the pressure to graduate with honors—I thought once I stepped into the "real world," everything would finally make sense. But here I am, a year into my first real job, and I've never felt more lost or unmotivated in my entire life.

Back in college, I was the person everyone pointed to as the success story. The one professors used as an example, the one my friends admired. I thrived on deadlines, feedback, and clear expectations. Everything was structured, and I knew exactly how to succeed. Now, I sit at my desk, staring blankly at my laptop, wondering if this is really all there is.

When I landed this job, I was over the moon. Everyone congratulated me, told me how proud they were. I believed this would be the beginning of something amazing—a chance to finally prove myself. But the reality has been crushingly different. My work feels meaningless, just endless emails, pointless meetings, and tasks that seem disconnected from any bigger purpose. I spend most days feeling invisible, like just another cog in a machine no one cares about.

I don't think I'm lazy, or at least I never used to be. But lately, it's like all my drive just disappeared overnight. Getting out of bed feels impossible some mornings. I used to wake up excited about the day ahead, ready to tackle challenges and prove myself. Now, I hit snooze repeatedly, dreading the moment I have to log in and pretend to be engaged in work that doesn't excite me at all.

I've tried talking to friends and family about this, but most of them say things like, "Welcome to adult life," or "Everyone hates their first job." But is it really supposed to feel this empty? Is this what I've worked so hard for, just to feel drained and purposless every day?

I keep wondering if maybe I chose the wrong career, or if I was naive to believe I'd find fulfillment right away. The scary part is, I don't even know what else I would do. I've spent my entire life on this path, convinced it was the right one. And now I'm terrified that I'll always feel this way, stuck in a cycle of dread, disappointment, and total lack of motivation.

I wish I knew how to fix this, how to regain the passion and confidence I once had. Maybe it's just a phase, or maybe I need a change. All I know is that this feeling—this heavy, numb sense of "what's the point?"—isn't how I want to spend the rest of my career. I just wish someone would tell me how to get my spark back. Until then, I'm just here, drifting through days, wondering how someone who once felt unstoppable now feels so utterly unmotivated.

Of course, becoming a teen theirs responsibility. And always feeling the pressure to get a job from your parents. Anyways, im 15 and what are some jobs where I don’t have to work in a musty fast food place and being a cashier. (Counting money sucks😞) And im also introverted, but that won’t stop me from getting a job.

I am 30 year old female who definitely does not want to work anymore. I dropped of college and started working and building myself and understanding jobs and everything which made me realize that I don't want to work anymore. My biggest issue is coworker and manger will FAFO. Since Trump ran for president in AMERICA, the economy is sinking and I heard that jobs are on a FREEZE and I honestly don't know what jobs are really hiring or not due to GHOST JOBS and what not because its really hard to say if I want to go apply for jobs. All the times I learn about jobs is that coworkers and managers are not your friends and I try my best to just be very careful because in the past I became a blubber mouth and was angry about everything; how jobs are structure and what not. I don't want unemployment because in my mind (i don't know if it true) but I found out that some people will teach others to lie on the form for unemployed and they will get while the others get rejected. That my stress and it bothers me because I am trying to live my life and do what I want to but again people love to mess up situation. Recently there was drama at work, a coworker was disrespectful telling me to clock out somewhere else and basically acted she is the manager but she doesn't do much. For me this my first time in industry never know how it might work every system has their ways and for me, I think I did well but that coworker is just trying to make it hard for us. That why I don't want to work anymore. There so much issues within work and due to job searching its hard to find a job that will take you seriously but some jobs won't even train you to make sure you get the work done. Any tips and advices because its jobs are really hard right now?

Lately, I’ve been going to work with a knot in my stomach, and I can’t really explain why. It’s not the tasks—I’m actually pretty good at what I do. I meet my deadlines, I show up on time, I don’t slack off. But there’s this weird vibe around me, like a silent wall I can’t break through. People don’t smile when I say good morning. My suggestions in meetings are either ignored or shot down like they’re stupid. I’ll say something, and no one reacts—then someone else says almost the same thing, and suddenly everyone’s nodding like it’s genius. I’ve tried to brush it off, telling myself maybe they’re just busy or having a bad day. But it’s been months. And now I’m starting to wonder… why do people hate me for no reason? Because that’s how it feels. Like I walk into the room and immediately get side-eyed or dismissed, and I honestly don’t know what I did wrong.

I’ve replayed everything in my head a million times. I’m not rude, I don’t gossip, I mind my own business. I even bring snacks sometimes just to lighten the mood. I try to make small talk when it's appropriate, ask people about their weekends, compliment someone’s outfit. But the responses are always short, cold, like they’re trying to get rid of me. And then I see them laughing together, making lunch plans, having these inside jokes I’m never a part of. It’s not that I want to be everyone’s best friend, but it’d be nice to feel like I’m not the unwanted one in the office. Like I actually belong there. Sometimes I wonder if I give off some kind of energy I’m not aware of. Do I look too serious? Too quiet? Too something? It messes with your head after a while. You start doubting yourself, even when logically, you know you haven’t done anything to deserve being left out.

The worst is when I actually do speak up about it, or hint at how I feel, and people act like I’m being dramatic. “Oh no one hates you,” they say. “You’re overthinking it.” But they don’t see what I see. They’re not the ones being left out of group chats or ignored in conversations. They don’t feel the tension when they walk into the breakroom. They don’t catch the glances, the whispering that suddenly stops when I get too close. It’s a silent kind of exclusion, the kind you can’t really prove, but you feel it in your chest every single day. And the more people deny it, the more isolated I feel. Because then it’s not just them pushing me away—it’s also me being made to feel crazy for noticing it at all.

I’ve considered quitting more times than I can count. But then I ask myself: am I gonna run away from every place that treats me like this? Or should I just grow thicker skin and push through it? That’s what people always say, right? “Don’t take it personal,” “just focus on your work,” “they’re probably jealous.” But saying that doesn’t take the pain away. It doesn’t make the loneliness easier. It doesn’t make me feel any less like the outsider. I want to believe that things will change, that maybe one person will reach out, invite me in, make me feel like I matter. But that hasn’t happened yet. And I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of wondering if I did something wrong when I’ve bent over backwards trying to be kind, respectful, and professional.

So yeah, I don’t know why people hate me for no reason. Maybe there is a reason and they’re just too immature to say it to my face. Or maybe it’s all in their heads, their projections, their issues. Whatever it is, I’m slowly learning that I can’t let their coldness define how I see myself. I’m still showing up, still doing the best I can, even if no one claps for me when I succeed. And maybe that’s enough for now. Maybe one day I’ll find a workplace where I don’t feel like a ghost. But until then, I’m holding on. Trying to believe I’m not as unlikable as they make me feel. Because deep down, I know I deserve better. Even if they never see it.

I hate when people I work with repeat the same phrase or words every time. I’m not complaining, but when someone says, does this person has this or this person has that it makes me feel like I’m not listening which I am. I am listening. Also, every time I’m trying to speak they keep interrupting me as well and it drives me insane. It feels like I’m not being heard again. and once more, it’s during something very stressful like I don’t need to tell them anything, but I need to say this so that they can understand. Why does this stressful not repeating? Does this person have this? Does this person have that I want to yell them they don’t need that, but I can’t or else I’ll lose my job. Sometimes I just want them to know that I am trying my best, but you don’t need to ask the same damn question every time.

at my workplace there is a rule about smells.

if you smell offensive to anyone it's apparently a crime.

now.... I know what you're thinking: "oh god.. why? just take a shower!" ..no, I'm talking about smelling TOO good.

apparently...

if you have a shampoo or conditioner with fragrance.

if you have an air freshener in your car that gets on your clothes or the air freshener is in your closet and gets in your clothes.

if you use an overly fragrant laundry detergent or fabric softener.

if you use those laundry beads or sheets.

if you have a perfume/cologne, or a body spray.

if you brush your teeth or chew gum in the vicinity of another person and you happen to breathe on them for whatever reason.

...those are all no-no's, very bad. if someone complains on you several times you can be sent home or written up.

on the other hand..... it's PERFECTLY ok to smell "natural"

if you fart all day long.

if you burp non stop.

if you smell like alcohol or cigarettes.

if your teeth are rotting.

if you brought an 'exotic' lunch.

if you don't shower.

if you constantly sweat.

if you wear a diaper or a bag and do not change it.

if you are against wiping yourself in the bathroom.

if you don't wash you clothes but instead only rinse them with water.

if you have pungent foot odor.

if for whatever reason you save your pee/poop in a bag, jar or can.

or... any other "natural smell" that may offend another person.

that is all allowed. no one will say anything to you if you are a "natural" smelling person even if someone else, or multiple people, complain about how much it offends them. in fact if you do complain about a "natural smell" in your area that doesn't go away like a fart or burp and it is actually a smell coming from a living person... management will tell you "if it bothers you so much and you feel ill or nauseous then take your time and go home." management won't even let the "natural" person know because it's against the rules to possibly embarrass or shame a person's existence. if the "natural" person does or does not practice hygiene that is a workplace issue BUT since it is a natural smell, THEIR smell, it is seen as an extreme type of body shaming. that is against the rules. so the only ones that get in trouble are the "unnatural" or artificial smelling people or people that use such products.

My boss tends to scold me on our workplace group chat. I try to just learn from the experience but it has been challenging because most of the time it is just about little things. I would really appreciate the decorum to just be civil (boss is not saying bad words when im called out) but just scolds me (you can read it in the tone of the message). I do not want to talk to her about it coz I do not want the conflict and she does tend to explode.

My supervisor has grown accustomed of me to write legal documents for the company when it is not my expertise (I am not a paralegal!). It just takes effort and time to research how to write legal documents and instead of me doing my actual work, I just submit these drafted documents to the lawyer and the lawyer checks my work.