Im introverted and have always enjoyed my solitude. Some people have complained that I don’t talk much, which is true, I don’t need to talk to feel good.
After changing workplaces, I decided to be proactive and introduce myself to my new coworkers. I was friendly and did it properly: my name, smiley face and what I do, eager to help them.
Some of them are friendly, greet back when I greet, but jesus christ, others outright avoid even eye contact with me like the plague, even though I kept greeting them for at least 2 more days.
Now I’ve returned the favor and I ignore them, not even asking them to do anything for me because last time I did, one of them said she would take a batch of documents to a nearby department but then outright ignored it and I had to do it myself.
It’s also a bit funny: 2 coworkers that the first day had small but normal conversations with me now look elsewhere when they see me… and I give them back the same treatment. Childish and petty? extremely, but I ask you: what should I do?
Introverted me says: what were you expecting? This is what people are, don’t bother trying to be extroverted, see what this brought you, return to your introverted self, do your job and go home, but this might sabotage me.
I confess neither do I know how to react when people are friendly when I’m talking to a coworker they like but the moment this coworker leaves, they turn to a mute.
To me, those of you who can play this silly workplace theater so well are geniuses. I cannot fake that a boring person interests me, nor can I fake respect for a person who treats me like I described.
I’d like to read your feedback.
You might want to read book and book, the latter being seminal in soft skills.
As an omnivert I can tell you just accept that some people won’t like you. Sometimes that can be a lot of people. Just remain calm and don’t take it personal, that’s important for your self respect but also because other people will treat you much better.
Leave the problems where they are. Some people like to take their frustrations out on a by them perceived to be lower status member of a group, and there’s various ways of dealing with that. A good start is to simply ignore it. The truth is that a lot of people kick down instead of look up, and you are free to judge them for that. If you are sure what you did was right, then stand by it.
There’s so much more I can say but you’ll want to start there in my opinion.