difficult times at work

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Hello, all. I haven't been here in awhile, so I'm kind of tempted to reintroduce myself, but I think I'll suppress the urge. (I'm too tired, anyway.)

Anyway, I work in the D.C. area at the National Archives (as a full-time professional). I'm not from the area and am hating it pretty badly. Additionally, I'm being bullied by security guards and other various thugs in my building on a near-daily basis and end up crying about once per day. Finally, my coworkers--as I knew they eventually would--avoid me for reasons I doubt they've even thoroughly processed, at best, or find me disturbingly creepy, at worst.

My supervisor has already written me a vague, essentially meaningless "letter of counseling" warning me to keep my head down and assimilate more.

In other news, JayShaw (a former WP moderator) and I got married last month (July 5th). I'll post photos in another section when I get home...

Sounds like you're making even more assumptions than (you think) I am, replying person.

anandamide, they know. Or, at least, my supervisor does. I gave her permission to tell my coworkers, but I don't know if she told them exactly what I "had"--just that it was a psychological abnormality? *shrug* Anyway, it doesn't seem to make a difference to a lot of people. Looking "normal" (as I do--on most days, anyway... heh) and being perceived unfriendly-in-a-weird-manner is not a good combination, I'm afraid.

The best thought exercise for all of this (to prevent me from obsessing on work people and letting them get to me emotionally) is to not, under any circumstances, think about them, even when I'm at work. Funny how I've gone from being oblibious to others (i.e., when I was in kindergarten and apparently seemed to believe I was there alone there and would just walk out of the school when the mood struck me) to obsessing over them, because I've learned through 29 years' experience that they can be frighteningly formidable predators.

They said you have to "assimilate more?!'', did they also say "resistance is futile!''

Thanks, everybody. It'll probably get better once I get a few of those automatic government raises.. hehe. I also think the "assimilate but keep your head down" advice is ridiculous. I actually got in trouble for going to my supervisor too much when I felt bad, but when I keep to myself, I'm accused of being "avoidant"... *sigh*

In my sh***y government job, which lasted exactly one year and ended in disaster, I suffered everday because I was expected to socialize with the people who worked there. The truth is I thought they were a bunch of morons. They had all been stuck in the same stupid brainless jobs for about twentyfive years. At breaktime they would all stand out on the back stairwell or in the smoke room and have the most mundane boring conversations I have ever heard in my life. I tried to fit in, but my social skills and other deficits made it sooo hard. It wasn't just about my Asperger's though, my co-worker's stupid jokes, their dimwitted cruel perceptions about the impoverished clients, and their viscious little lives were sickening. Eventually I was assualted by this socially predatory coke addicted co-worker which led to a huge conflict with my union and eventually I got a settlement and left that employment. THANK GOD the universe kicked me out of there. If the final disaster hadn't happened I might still be working in that horrible little job, and who knows I might even have TURNED INTO an idiotic creature like one of those drones.

Sometimes when you are miserable it's because the universe is kicking you in the ass until you get the message and go and do what it is you are really supposed to be doing with your life.