[irrational]

I’ve worked at the same company for nearly 20 years. I’ve had precisely 0 lunch and hallway conversations in all of those years. Lunch time is when I go work out. If I’m not working out, I’m sitting at my my desk working. Socializing is for non-work hours. However, I’ve learned a lot more about coworkers (some of whom I’ve worked with for more than 10 years) during the pandemic from talking at the beginning of zoom calls waiting for everyone to show up.

[aetherson]

You are not the modal employee.

[jcims]

I’m not at zero but generally avoid socializing at work. It just stresses me out for some reason. I’m pretty affable and approachable and genuinely like people, just from a distance.

[hutzlibu]

So ... since you only worked or worked out ... when did you actually eat?

[refurb]

You sound like a fun person to work with!

[parafactual]

Does it bother you if someone doesn't socialize at work? I don't understand why it would.

[refurb]

If someone can make it 20 years with zero hallway conversations I assume they aren’t very pleasant to be around.

I mean, if I asked OP if they had a nice weekend, what would happen? Would I be ignored? Just a grunt in reply? Or a “fine” and that’s it?

[SauciestGNU]

I assumed they were referring to the spontaneous work-related hallway chats that middle managers and executives claim are so important. I'm not OP, but I relate, and while I'm not big on small talk I'll engage in it because I respect my colleagues and I don't want to snub them.

[parafactual]

If you ask someone if they had a nice weekend and they give a one-word response, why not just not ask them questions like that? It seems rude to expect someone to put a certain amount of effort into conversation with you that you initiated.