Mike Larkin writes:
"They're probably caught between reflexive, drooling leader worship and passive- aggressive hostility. Why do you ask?
The real hostility that you see in the workplace is reserved for peers who violate the social contract - ones who shirk work or never attempt it, ones who don't do their share, ones who play cards in their manager's office ... not that I'm bitter or anything."
I ask ...for the precise reason you suggested...I'm wondering whether their hostility toward their peers is in any way connected with their "passive-aggressive hostility" toward upper management. (not consciously connected, of course.)
It's ironic, but where I work, the hardest working people seem to be the socialists and left-wingers. For them it's not so much a question of corporate climbing -- not a single one aspires to even the lowest-level management job. It's more the sense that you do not want to make life harder for one of your fellow workers by slacking off. And then there's another stripe altogether, the kind that works hard if it's noticed (if it leads to personal advancement), but otherwise does little or nothing.
I get angry with the slackers, but I keep it to myself. I'm not bitter, just disgusted. I am openly critical of upper management, and mostly what that gets me is a sigh of relief (from others) and good lunch dates.
Joanna