Wow. A note on office politics.

I have been absent from most office politics for the last three years (and for most of my life, as long as I could dodge them). I hate politics, and I hate them with a passion that sometimes puts me in a bad place. I just watched an encounter between two coworkers, and it went SO BADLY. As an observer and a friend, I know the personality of one of the persons in the encounter very well. The other one is new, but "supercedes" the other one in terms of rank. However, the one I know has been working here for thirty years, and he does an excellent job. He's a great statistician, a good scientist, and he's extremely hard working. The new guy is smart and ambitious, but he's pushy. The old guy is not inclined to be pushed, and he's a bit of an idiosycratic personality to begin with - the pushiness of the new guy is about as welcome as a turkey drumstick at a vegetarian convention, to make a clumsy comparison. I hate the whole thing, because I hate conflict. The new coworker, if he was less rush-rush, could probably get the old coworker to do what he wants him to do. It takes time. The old coworker could probably be less caustic in his response to the new one, but he has the right to respond. I was not happy to have this whole thing transpire right in front of me. I'm a minor player here, if even that; I don't want to be involved. Given the choice, I wouldn't be. Humans are such a pain in the ass. That is all. More on the morrow.