That sounds awful. 💔
@ATXJane: It is, but one gets used to it. Since my latest of thirties, I pay attention to and ne'er dismiss my Spidey-sense. When I see even the yellow flags, I tell folks what i see and ask if I'm off-track. They always say I am off-track, but okay. Then I warn them I'm hitting the bricks if whatever trend(s) continue, at which point one of two things happens.
1. They say I'm wrong, try to explain, and then get flustered when I have All The Data, including and sometimes most importantly...
@ATXJane: ...often.) Then I make my exit with them still hot and bothered.
Maybe one-quarter of the time, a few other folks not long after I head out. They are invariably folks who were just keeping their heads down and getting through things, and in many settings, if one person leaves on their own and pisses off the boss(es), some of those folks will follow. The Power of Precedent.
People are strange but predictable, despite what all the memes and shit say.
@ATXJane: ...data they don't themselves have or thought nobody, including me noticed. Then they 'fess up, and take my exit. (This happens maybe one-quarter of the time.)
2. They get bent out of shape and let it all hang out, all the info they thought I didn't know and all their pent-up frustrations that usually have nothing to do with me but that I get to be the focal point of because outlier and because I do not behave the ways they or others are used to. (That's a lightning rod quite...