Socialising at Work

Does anyone else loath socialising/ small talk at work?

I'm fine talking about work stuff, but talking about other stuff is hard.

I don't have much personal stuff to talk about, and I don't really like talking about myself so it's always awkward..

hsp said:

Does anyone else loath socialising/ small talk at work?

I'm fine talking about work stuff, but talking about other stuff is hard.

I don't have much personal stuff to talk about, and I don't really like talking about myself so it's always awkward..

Click to expand...

All the time. Doesn't help that my boss is one of those really nosy people who thinks everyone should be a social butterfly like she is.

hsp said:

Does anyone else loath socialising/ small talk at work?

I'm fine talking about work stuff, but talking about other stuff is hard.

I don't have much personal stuff to talk about, and I don't really like talking about myself so it's always awkward..

Click to expand...

I like talking to customers about football and sport or whatever.
Don't like talking to the staff much. Most argue with everything I say.

hsp said:

Does anyone else loath socialising/ small talk at work?

I'm fine talking about work stuff, but talking about other stuff is hard.

I don't have much personal stuff to talk about, and I don't really like talking about myself so it's always awkward..

Click to expand...

Totally know what you mean. So I end up not talking about myself most of the time, just listening to others and responding to their life stories.

I don't particularly like small talk in general. So it's no different at work. I feel like my responses are probably noticeably forced at times, and sometimes I am not even sure how to respond to some things. When on break I am generally off in my own little corner of the break room reading a book. They always have the tv on the news(which is mostly unimportant drama/garbage) or one of those divorce court shows, also drama. I don't want to get into a conversation about anything like that.

hsp said:

Does anyone else loath socialising/ small talk at work?

I'm fine talking about work stuff, but talking about other stuff is hard.

I don't have much personal stuff to talk about, and I don't really like talking about myself so it's always awkward..

Click to expand...

Well I hope you're not going to complain about being lonely then. What's wrong with getting to know colleagues?

That's the one thing I enjoyed and miss. It was the only socializing I got. When I started to lose that I realized how lonely I was, it's what brought me here.

When I was working I always found the social side the hardest part of any job, and I was often bullied for not fitting in. I always made a big effort to be sociable and to fit in, but somehow it never worked. I tried to say the same sort of things as the others said, but it was as if they had some sort of rule book in their heads which 'told' them what to say and how to say it, but I didn't have this rule book in my head, so my responses were often 'off.'

It's kind of a relief, actually. At least someone sees me as worth talking to despite my strangeness, and I'm not staring at the clock slowly counting down the minutes until my brain turns to mush on slow days.

The times I loath are when I have a mountain-load of work to do, and I have to go to some pizza place for lunch to celebrate someone's birthday. It makes me panicky just to think about all of the time I spending not working that I don't enjoy myself. My brain worries about the fragility of my work situation and how a seemingly simple, birthday party might help get me into trouble by not getting my work done. Of course, I can't bow out or I'll look like an anti-social jerk. A classic Catch-22.