Do you have a nemesis at your place of work? The person who inexplicably loathes even though you've been helpful and nice to him or her from the very beginning? And once you realize she or he doesn't particularly like you, you attempt to ingratiate yourself. (And I'm abandoning the ambiguous pronoun conceit now, because it's rather cumbersome.) You hand her shit. You call English-speaking clients at her request, which is, like, the only time she talks to you, when she asks you to do something for her, because she totally hates your guts. And trying to be nice only You smile at her in the morning, say buenos días, ask her how she's doing. She deigns to give a noncommittal answer if she's in a good mood. Your attempts at niceties only serve to exacerbate her disdain for you.
God, I sit right next to her! I see her five times a week, for almost eight whole hours! (I say "almost," because this cabrona has no work ethic. She breezes in ten minutes late, she takes a forty minute lunch, and then she leaves fifteen minutes early. Oh, AND she leaves her cell phone -- she has the third most annoying ring tone ever. Almost as annoying as that Crazy Frog ring. Ugh. She receives about five cell phone calls a day, each lasting about five minutes, and she calls people, too, cackling like a goddamn bruja throughout the entire cell phone calls.)
As an experiment, I decided to avoid any greetings in the morning. I said, absolutely nothing to her, hoping I was just being paranoid and sensitive as usual, but it looks like I was right. She definitely doesn't like me, because wouldn't you say good morning to the asshole who sits next to you. I liked her when she first started working here six months ago. I thought she was a sweet lady at first. Now I want to hit her every time she does that stupid baby voice, whining for one of our co-workers to come to her and help her with something. If you want help, get your lazy ass up and ASK for help. I'm trying to concentrate.
I think I might hate her. It's not quite as bad as Darren of Consolidated Cardboard, but it's getting there. And I do get along with other people at work. I get invited to baby showers and quinceañeras. I go out for drinks and dinner after work with friends from work. I've even gone on vacation with a co-worker. So, I'm not completely unlikeable. I think.
So, who's your personal Darren?