Most people aren’t going to come right out and say they’re not your biggest fan.
Not only would that be rude, it’s also kind of unnecessary. However, most people aren’t all that great at hiding their true feelings, so you don’t exactly have to be a detective to figure out when someone doesn’t like you. All you have to do is look for these signs.
1. Their smile never reaches their eyes.
They go through the motions of politeness, but something feels off. Their greeting smile looks more like a grimace. When you tell a joke, they give a rehearsed laugh that sounds hollow. Every interaction feels mechanical and forced. You can sense the tension behind their practised pleasantries.
2. You keep getting ‘forgotten’ about.
Source: Unsplash Group lunch plans somehow never make it to your inbox. Meeting invites arrive after sessions end. Important updates reach you last, if at all. Each oversight comes with a perfect excuse, but the pattern becomes clear. Their selective memory only seems to affect things involving you.
3. Their body language shuts down.
The moment you enter a room, their arms cross. They turn slightly away when you speak. Their feet point toward the exit during conversations. Every physical signal screams discomfort without a word being said. Their body broadcasts what their words won’t admit.
4. Conversations die on arrival.
Your attempts at small talk get met with one-word answers. They never ask follow-up questions about your life. Every chat feels like pulling teeth. The person who chatters happily with other people suddenly develops selective mutism around you. Silence becomes their preferred language in your presence.
5. They create physical distance.
Source: Pexels Empty chairs appear between you in meetings. They take the stairs when you’re waiting for the lift. Coffee runs magically happen before you can join. Their movements create an invisible bubble you can’t penetrate. Personal space becomes a weapon of exclusion.
6. Your wins get dismissed.
Good news from you gets downplayed immediately. Achievements receive backhanded compliments. Successes get attributed to luck rather than effort. Your moments of pride become their chances to minimize. Everything you’re proud of somehow ends up feeling smaller.
7. They find your flaws fascinating.
Source: Unsplash Minor mistakes become major talking points. Your small quirks turn into public discussion topics. They notice every flaw, but never your strengths. Their attention to your imperfections borders on obsessive. Your shortcomings become their favourite conversation starter.
8. Information reaches you last.
Source: Unsplash Office updates travel to everyone but you. Social plans circulate until they hit your desk and stop. You’re constantly catching up on things everyone else already knows. Their information pipeline mysteriously clogs whenever news should flow your way. You become the last to know and the first to be blamed for not knowing.
9. They overshare about other people to you.
You hear all the office gossip from them, but they never want to know about you. They tell you everyone else’s secrets while staying suspiciously quiet about their own life. Their openness with other people’s business highlights their closure with you. You become the vault for stories but never the subject of them.
10. Their praise sounds hollow.
Compliments come wrapped in subtle digs. “You look nice today” carries an implied “finally.” Every positive comment has a hidden barb. Their words say congratulations while their tone says something entirely different. Support sounds more like sarcasm in their voice.
11. They exaggerate your mistakes.
Source: Unsplash Small errors become epic failures in their retelling. Your typos turn into evidence of incompetence, and minor oversights get presented as character flaws. Each mistake grows bigger as it passes their lips. Your human moments become their cautionary tales.
12. They use your name excessively.
Source: Unsplash Every criticism starts with your name, and each correction comes with unnecessary name-drops. Your name becomes a weapon in their mouth. The way they say it carries weight you never gave it; the personal becomes pointed in their pronunciation.
13. They create triangles.
Issues never come to you directly. Problems travel through three people before reaching your ears. They tell other people about their concerns with you, but never address you. Their complaints make a perfect triangle that always points at you. Direct communication disappears in their presence.
14. Their help feels hostile.
Offered assistance comes with strings attached. Their solutions create more problems than they solve, and “help” arrives wrapped in criticism and judgement. Every favour feels like a future weapon. Support becomes another form of control.
15. They rewrite your reality.
Your memories of events don’t match their versions. Conversations you clearly remember somehow happened differently in their telling. Your experiences get questioned and dismissed. Their alternative facts create doubt in your mind. Truth becomes flexible when it involves you.
