It was a really good and insightful article! I read it and some of it aloud to my girlfriend and left you a comment. Thank you for spending the time on this matter to help me (and I'm sure a lot of others).

Hey thanks! I just checked it out and commented. :-)

Elizabeth, this was really a great deal of help in terms of giving some perspective. I was talking to my girlfriend as I read this and I think "emotional dissonance" is the most accurate way to describe what I feel on a regular basis. A lot of my frustration stems from things I value, like my work ethic, my high…

All Facebook users received an email today regarding the change. Whether they notice it or not is up to them. You can always share the article on your own news feed.

Part of the different categories gig comes from different sellers on Amazon, as well. Certain categories on Amazon are restricted - meaning Joe Blow from off the street can't just go selling cell phone accessories or video games or certain types of household items in the most obvious categories, but to get around this…

Sure, ask me whatever you'd like to know. You can also reach me via email to continue the conversation: dave (dot) myers (at) ragingtech (dot) com

That should be a distinction they teach in elementary school. In an entirely public education from Kindergarten through Grad School, I have never learned this distinction until today, but it makes perfect sense. Thanks for the lesson!

Haha, thank you for your encouragement!

Gregg, that was both a well-formed and well presented comment. I found your advice helpful and the perspective given to be a useful way to look at things. Perhaps I am not a cynical bastard but just worried, to some degree, that I don't care enough but that somehow I ought to care more about some of these seemingly…

doomguy, that's amazing. I'm encouraged by all the people who seem to get that a misanthropic guy's idea of heaven is to simply not be bothered. All we want is some peace and quiet. :-)

Maybe we should start a support group!

This is my current modus operandi - I think most people behave this way.

It's a difficult thing to express, but I do actually have and practice the skills to interact with people civilly, and I do engage in acts of charity. I volunteer, put on the fake extra-polite face for coworkers (or voice, usually, since now I work from home) and get along. It's mostly just that the corporate culture…

It sounds like a horrible job for someone like me, sarcasm/joke intended or not. I don't think I could deal with that many people a day, even if I was legally allowed to abuse them and or molest them.

Well said, sir - this is my basic modus operandi for the time being. You seem to understand the "corporate culture" versus being your real, true-to-life self, and how to be tactful to make up the difference between the two.

I like your advice on the conversation scenario, because it's the one that I encounter most. I ask questions if someone is clearly interested in a topic I know nothing about. It strokes their ego and builds that sort of faux connection that seems critical to surviving in this world with other people. I don't usually…

Riding the fence, generally. I feel like I ought to want to be closer, friendlier, more helpful to people. But truthfully, I'm good at helping people I care about close to me, or complete strangers through charity. It's those people who sit in the middle and want to interact but I can't bring myself to find the energy…

This is great advice, and maybe some to take to heart more often. Because as much as it makes me a bastard, this is exactly the heart of the issue. I feel like people are behind the curve of where people in a professional corporate environment ought to be. This is true everywhere, not just my job. I explained in…

This is my daily life when I interact with people not in my close personal relationships. I am fake / phony in every email I send out, every work online chat I'm in, and sometimes the most taxing are meetings & conference calls where I'm not working alone. I am incredibly productive alone, I always hated group work…