I have learnt that I work with pickmes and scrotes. Honestly, all of them hang in the staff room which is why I’ve chosen to eat my lunch in a private space(e.g. park benches, my car, empty offices/rooms). Lately, word has gotten around that I’m anti-social, and people think I’m too good for them since I don’t talk or contribute to conversation. Here’s the thing, I don’t want to, and I can’t.

For example, one conversation they had was after Valentine’s Day and these three ladies were commiserating. One colleague who was divorced spent Valentine’s Day alone because her children wanted to spend that day with their father’s family. She ate cold spaghetti alone that night. The other colleague said that her husband of over 15+ years forgot about Valentine’s Day and brought her to Red Lobster last minute. This is his second time he “forgot”. The third colleague was about my age and her live-in bf came home with a bag full of Valentine’s Day chocolate from Walmart. I, on the other hand, am single. My Valentine’s Day was great. I celebrated on the weekend, took myself shopping, and had dinner in the city. If I were to tell them that, I’d be rubbing it in their faces and it’s not nice, so I remained silent.

In addition, I stopped talking to male colleagues after one of them offered to rent his room out for me. This other guy kept making jokes that I didn’t find funny and whenever he did he’d always lightly tap me and laugh at his own jokes. He’s so annoying.

Don’t get me wrong there are HV people at this place. The janitor was HV, because he was pleasant to talk to when I needed directions. There are other HV people and they do their own thing at this place and we eat in our own private space as well. If I need anything, I can always look for them in their office. These are the three people that I can count on the most.