Dear girlies, I hope you’re having a nice time. I just really hope some of us did, because I’ve just been through a very bad day and I want to rant about it.
So I work in this college, and here we have cubicles instead of cabins so the situation is very weird. Most of my colleagues that share the spacearem MEN. All married with/without kids, 30-40 in ages. Now I do not know what’s my fault here, I was raised to just keep my head down and work, which I do. I never meddle but I also don’t agree with some dumb stuff. I do bite my tongue 99/100 times and have never actually offended any of them. Now I’m an above average height for an Indian woman and some might consider me “good looking”. And I have no clue if this is the reason I’m being treated the way that I am.
Problem: My colleagues just keep their eyes fixed on me the whole time and observe my every movement, whether I’m making notes, drinking water, breathing, dying etc., and I have never returned the courtesy ever.
They keep tabs on me all the time like a pack of wolves trying to attack me the minute they can and it’s been putting a lot of stress on me.
I don’t want totbe the centre of everyone’s lives. I just want to be left alone. Please tell me what I should do to be left alone because right now I don’t have the energy to find another job and it’s anyway going to be an iteration of the same even if do.
Please share your perspective and any tips that have worked for you. I would really appreciate it. I am just being driven to madness with this overstimulation. Oh and one of these guys was once a friend of mine who also joined in on the wolf pack for some reason (that for some reason hurt me the most).
Sorry for the long post again.
Comments
How bizarre. I’m sorry you’re going through that. Do you think you’d be able to ask that former friend of yours what the deal is, just to get some information and not be left wondering and/or have an opportunity to express your discomfort to someone as an ally?
Use the helpful clueless card. Anytime you catch one staring, go, “Oh! Can I help you with something?” Maintain strict eye contact. Look into their soul.
Next time you catch one staring, same thing; extreme eye contact and a chirpy, happy voice, “Oh! Did you need something?”
“Oh my! How long have you just been staring, I must not have heard you call my name. Do you need something?”
Slowly point out that they are staring at you, so they much want you for help with something.
If they say anything song the lines of, “oh no, I was just looking at you,” pause for a moment and look at them strangely and reply something like, “do you often stare at people? I was taught that was impolite.”