The workplace in itself is definitive enough, a place where one works. There's so much that happens at the workplace, along with work. Sometimes, certain things happen at the workplace that seem like a tale.

We often come across many incidents that happen at the workplace.

Like any other individual, I was well versed with the toxicity in work workplace. My ideas were limited to extra work pressure, early deadlines, credit snatching by seniors, bootlicking the upper echelon individuals, and so on and so forth. I really believed I knew about the pros and cons of the workplace. Alas, I was proved awfully wrong when I came in direct contact with certain individuals.

There are certain times and places that generally break your idea of a certain concept. The eyes get wide open the moment we come across such situations; they actually make you question your perspective and understanding.

Now, let's not beat around the bush much and straightaway talk about my changed perspectives.

Well, I did start afresh, thinking myself to be a pro at handling difficult situations, as in regular situations at the workplace. Work was as usual, with little fanfare and a wee bit of stress. It flowed like the Gandak through its course, then came individuals, or rather, toxic people gift-wrapped in the form of helpful seniors or understanding colleagues. Dealing with them is…well, well, well, understanding them and their motives is not possible for everybody owing to the fact that they generally change colours faster than the mobile screen background. They come in TOUCH with you with their charming smiles, easy-going attitude, whether professional or beyond. You get so used to their goodness that the brick called TRUST is laid. BOOM comes the shock when you realise that whatever secrets you shared or problems you spoke about, well, to have their expert opinions, has become the page 3 news of the office. People start looking at you as if you have straightaway landed from Titan or Europa(moons of Jupiter).

An innumerable number of people deal with such sweet poisons every day. You are made as the unfit newcomer who is quite vulnerable, and the sweet, lovely, and accommodating senior has been the rope that you have latched onto to survive. Your image among colleagues is completely shattered, and hey, they, as usual, are the sweethearts. Many categories of toxins exist within the office walls.

Let's now talk about one more category where the perpetrator becomes the most humble, docile, and naive victim who has been bothered, harassed by you. Till the time you realise their niceness has actually put you in deep shit, you are the next dinosaur who has eaten away the wonderful, vibrant work culture in the office. These people are the worst kind, as they forcefully do all the good things with you beyond work and office situations; thus, they become the devoted colleague that you are blessed to find, and you might be thanking your stars every two minutes for such amazing, supportive, and understanding colleagues. You slowly become heavily dependent on their good deeds, and you suddenly want your every step validated by them. Thus, they become the masters in this game, and you, my dear, turn into a puppet. Your individuality is lost, and you become their shadow. Everything is hunky dory till the subtle commands and orders are accomplished by you without queries. The day a difference in opinion crops up, you suddenly get fangs that have harmed that individual. You suddenly face everybody's ire as such an amazing colleague has been disrespected and undervalued by you. It so happens that we generally start doubting ourselves, our behaviours, and even our work calibre. These toxins then keep harping about their misfortune in being so kind and helpful towards all, and how their good deeds get damaged because of certain immoral and unprofessional people like us.

This is the time when the workplace becomes a stress garden that one is forced to visit for the fruit called salary. One is raising their family.

There's one particular toxin in the workplace that can be comfortably placed in a different category altogether, but let's just talk about their unprofessional behaviour. There's a group of certain females who have not been in the elite places where professional behaviour has been taught, per se, about gender equality.

They believe that in a certain mould, even though it's a workplace, a female should be coy and within certain limits. Jobs have certain demands, and the onus falls on certain chivalrous males who go out of their way to help these poor females. Well, complications arise when

they are unable to differentiate between sexist innuendos and kind colleagues. Males who are chivalrous in a particular way take it as their official right to decide everything about the work of those females in the name of helping. They also keep up the humorous quotient by cracking up personal jokes in the name of lighting up the environment. Those females accept that as part of office life and are hung ho on it. Imagine another set of females who are professional and have come across work ethics at several levels. This often leads to toxicity for these women, who can differentiate between a good colleague and a pretentious good colleague. Here, the situations turn difficult for those who understand etiquette at the office. They not only have to deal with male toxicity, rather it's disheartening to see females supporting males in the name of a good office environment and calling their colleagues uptight and egoistic, etc.. Pooooh, tough to work again..

Certain toxins are commonly found everywhere, like grass. They are the certified bootlickers who can smile, cry, give ideas at the drop of a hat, the moment bosses want one. They are basically paid for being the eyes and ears of the office, apart from the CCTV in the office. These people are like doughnuts that will definitely cause diabetes in you in the near future.

Well, if we keep finding toxins in the office, it may lead to writing a book. So let's just keep it short. We might want to talk about the other categories some other time.

There's no fixed method or options to deal with toxicity. Some people are quite observant, and thus they fall less into traps. The real problem lies with those who are extroverted or exuberant personalities. Such people get duped often and are mostly the sufferers. They become the perpetrators or villains in everybody's eyes, and no matter how confident one is, such scrutinising eyes make one commit more mistakes, leading to poor performance. This gives those toxins a chance to prove their point. The pain of being misunderstood is huge, and it mostly affects mental health and cognitive capabilities.

I have seen so many people asking what can be done.

The point is, this problem will never change; the intensity might change, but if we think that we can deal with them and progress in work, let's face the mirror, it is not possible. Many people might have wonderful ways to deal with them, like being quiet, observant, or ignorant, or staying away, and so on and so forth.

Diary entries can also become a medium to share frustration.

We can slowly learn not to share useful personal information. We may utter crap all the time, but never anything personal.

Or the best is, we can try having a labubu doll to listen to us the whole day without getting tired.

These ways might not be appreciated much, but at the end of the day, we have to fight this war whether we like it or not.

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