My coworker is an emotional vampire.
She will come talk to whoever is in ear shot and all of the conversations are about 90% about her the entire time. Even if you interject and get the chance to share something about yourself, she will find a way to flip it and bring the conversation back to her. Oh, and about 95% of the conversations that are mostly about her involve the discussion of only negative things. Even if something seems perfectly find, she will find the one negative thing about it and talk it to death. 659
She also doesn't pick up on social kills or has the ability to notice when someone's eyes are glossing over.
I recently decided I am not going to give into this behavior anymore and have created a lot of distance in order to be able to maintain my own energy and feel less depleted by her. It's awkward because we work in a very small family office and it's usually just her and I in the office together, but I legitimately don't care anymore. I cannot continue to allow her to drain me of my attention, emotions, and any other form of energy. Now she has moved onto a new victim and is talking this poor person's ear off. Since this change occurred, I leave work with way more energy and a better ability to listen to my partner at the end of his hectic work day because I haven't spent the first half of the day listening to the complaints of someone I really don't care about. 659