One of my coworkers often teases me about my clothes which includes a black North Face jacket, jeans, and steel-toed boots. This person has even gone so far as to label me a "terrorist" and make jokes about it. I worry that this guy may have spread these hurtful comments to others behind my back. Unfortunately, the past few years have been difficult for me, and my social skills have suffered as a result. I tend to keep to myself unless someone initiates a conversation with me. While I was hoping to make new friends at this job, the current situation has made that seem unlikely. Sometimes, I come into work feeling down and anxious, which can cause me to withdraw from others. I'm doing my best to improve my mental health, but some days are harder than others. I struggle with suicidal thoughts and often overanalyze situations until I feel overwhelmed.

No, really. Everyone and everything keeps reminding me of it daily. Even you here, people, talking about your families, spouses, children… I’m 36 and I’ve never had a serious relationship. I have no house, and my savings will never be enough for a mortgage in my expensive area, even with my pretty good IT wages. I've been working in the same job for 6 years. I have no special skills or talents, apart from computer stuff. I have no close friends. I’ve lost contact with uni friends years ago, but I know they’re all parents now or having dazzling careers. My coworkers always have plans for the weekend. My health is not as good as it used to be. Everyone seems to make progress in life. It’s only me stuck in a rut, at a loss what to do with myself. I don’t envy or hate anyone, it’s more like I hate myself. I’ve made so many mistakes in my life, and I’ve pushed away everyone who tried to help me. I cringe at the thought that I may one day meet my uni friends, and have nothing to tell them about what I’ve been doing all these years. For I’ve been doing nothing, like a loser.

I worked for a government agency and was quite happy with my job. It happened that I became close to a girl and supported her in her work. I wanted to be a hero in her eyes. And I was! She looked at me literally as an idol and a meter of the profession. I explained and showed her everything. Yeah, I liked her! What's the big deal? I was the "soul of the team", and after her appearance colleagues began to actively jealous. I didn't spend much time with them anymore. The conflict was escalating and I was "growing wings" because of the girl's admiring eyes. One day I had a fight with the team I was working with. In the course of the conflict, I said that if I continued to be pressured like this, I would leave. "Where will you go? Who needs you?" said one of my colleagues. It was at lunchtime. I was savagely hurt by that phrase. I started looking at job postings at lunchtime. Emotionally, of course. My girlfriend said, looking at me admiringly: "You should go straight to being a director. Now I'm gonna have to get a director's job for her. I found a vacancy for a director and called there, sending my resume. The manager answered that just today, in a couple of hours, the final interview would begin. And if I want to be on time, I have to come today and it's actually unlikely, because the director has already been seen, but the interview with other candidates will still be. I really wanted to go. The urge to quit my job on the same day was wild with resentment. I told the girl that I was going for an interview and she was happy. I told my coworkers when I left work that I was going to a new job. They were surprised, but they also looked incredulous. Something like "you are angry, calm down and come back tomorrow". When I walked into the office for the interview, the manager said the interview was coming to an end and there was no point in me coming in anymore. What? I started pushing through. Saying everything I could think of, putting pressure on them. The girl got upset and ran to her supervisor. Apparently, her story to Naalstvo was emotional and I was invited to come in. I met the owner of the business and was so convincing that .....They chose ME! I didn't doubt it, I felt like a pro! All the office managers were shocked. As I found out later, a director had actually been chosen for the office beforehand, but the owner didn't like him very much. But the whole staff did. That's why they wouldn't let me go to the interview. And that's when I burst in and broke through. The owner of the company said that he was looking for just such a "punchy" person and he liked the way I went to the closed interview. The decision was made. And I was told to fire the entire staff and hire a new one. Can you imagine the eyes of the female employees who wouldn't let me in??? But most important to me were my girlfriend's eyes, shining and telling me "I knew you were the best." Needless to say, when I came to quit my previous job the next day, my colleagues were shocked and asked me to stay...but it didn't matter to me anymore.. So, believing in myself I did the impossible...And the businessman who took me on as director later told everyone "I found a diamond in the rough"

As a 21-year-old female working in retail, I have been dealing with a difficult situation involving a coworker who is 40 years old. Unfortunately, this woman has been bullying me, and I have been struggling to find a way to handle the situation. While I am typically not afraid to confront people, I have been hesitant to do so in this case because it could end up causing more harm than good. This is because many people seem to like her, and even one of our top supervisors defends her.

I have tried to take a more passive approach by remaining silent and not engaging with her unless absolutely necessary. I have been respectful, always using please and thank you, and minding my own business when she does things that she shouldn't. Despite this, she has continued to be patronizing towards me, exclude me, give me unreasonable commands, overwork me, and even mock me. She has also been unwilling to help with teamwork and has reported me to the manager for irrelevant things that she lets herself and others get away with.

What's worse is that she seems to be targeting only me. She is friendly with our other coworkers unless they spend a lot of time with me, in which case she gives them attitude too. Thankfully, my coworkers have been supportive and have even told me that they know she gossips and has a bad attitude. One of them suggested that she might feel threatened or jealous of me.

Despite all of this, I don't want to quit my job. I am seeking advice on how to handle the situation and stop feeling anxious and teary. While I don't care if she dislikes me, her efforts to make my job difficult and unwelcome are causing me a great deal of stress and hurt.