I apologize if this isn’t allowed, but I wasn’t sure exactly where to put it. Just let me know if it’s inappropriate and I’ll delete. Thanks.
I’m a loner, so my life is basically just work and the internet. Two of my coworkers are among my favorite people in the whole world, but one of them doesn’t like the other one and will complain to me about how they don’t like them.
We work incredibly closely together…only a few feet apart for hours on end. Our job also necessitates that we frequently communicate with one another. In the beginning, I absolutely loved it and there was no conflict.
Now, I often get my one coworker complaining to me that the other is lazy. And I’m not going to lie, the “lazy” one definitely takes more breaks than everyone and doesn’t at all work as hard as the others. But that doesn’t really bother me because she’s a super incredibly nice and friendly person.
But over time it has bothered my hardworking coworker more and more and driven a wedge into what I would have once considered to be a friendship between the 3 of us.
It never gets to the point where there is yelling or arguments or anything, but it absolutely ruins the mood and then I hear about it later.
I interact with these people for hours on end every single day and I’m just not sure how to handle it. I’ve been struggling to know how to deal with it for months now.
To top it all off it gives me endless paranoia that the hardworking coworker secretly resents me and hates me too. This stuff never used to happen before, but know I feel like it’s all that happens.
IMO you are over thinking a social situation involving other peoples interpsonal relationship which you dont have much direct control over. If two human beings that aren’t you decide to start up petty emotional drama that’s their business. The only control you have is how much you want to involve yourself to it/be exposed to it. If one starts talking about the other to you, politely tell them you are a neutral party, would like to remain that way, and want to talk about something else. If they get salty about it then inform them in a less polite way that you aren’t their personal venting machine. That you’re (presumably) grown adults and not teenagers in highschool, they need to stop shit talking about other people to you. they can pay a therapist to listen to their ranting.