I've come to terms with the fact that my group is just not that friendly. No one says "Hi" or "thanks" in messages. No one asked anyone what they did over the weekend or holiday. No one shows even one iota of a sense of humor, even wry humor. I try to make one tiny joke (super tame--along the lines of "gotta love when you get the purchase agreement back on a Friday evening, right?") and it was met with serious deadpan silence. So stupid. I'm just trying to show an ounce of being human and being a kind person.
Then, I covered for another associate on a different team while he was out. It was like night and day. People actually said thank you, talked about cliches like sports and the weather, asked what I did for Labor Day, even smiled.
I'm not saying I have to be bffs with coworkers or overshare my life but I'm generally interested in people and think a little camaraderie goes a long way when you're turning docs at 3am. I really do want to hear about the restaurant you tried or your dog or even just about the traffic on the way in or something. Anything to show that the teams bubbles who I talk to for 50-70 hours a week are people too. It's true what they say, your specific group's personality really can make or break this job.