Nothing irks me more than OPPORTUNISTS - people who speak and associate with you to climb up the so called social ladder. Heck people carry it out continuously on a daily basis in business but we have implemented a classier name to it calling it "networking".
Business networking is the process of establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with other business people and potential clients and/or customers. - taken from about.com
Can the term 'its just business' be applied to this? So it seems. What if someone uses you to reach their own personal gains but it is to further their careers. Is that 'just business?' Not according to the definition. Business networking is a 'mutually beneficial relationship' implying that both parties are to benefit. Then again in a perfect world all would be fair and just and be filled with equal opportunities.
Assuming that it is socially acceptable to pretend to get along and suck up to someone just to further your career because at the end of the day it is a world run on economics and essentially survival of the fittest (fyi I am not saying I agree with this view), lets take a look at the personal view.
I am of the mindset that if you talk to someone that you should genuinly want to because of who they are as a person. Don't just kiss ass to get somewhere. What is the point? You may think you might be happy in the short run but all your issues and problems are going to remain and you know what they say...its lonely at the top.
I think one of the cruelest moments one can experience is discovering that someone you depended on doesnt care to know you anymore because of your position in society. Why do we live in such a fake world where money and power is the root of all evil? How does one trust in a world full of mistrust? I feel like we need to carry around a lie detector in order to question new associates in order to determine if they are trust worthy or have good intentions towards us.
How can one be sure that the friends you have are not secretly waiting for you to fail because it means they are more successful than you?
Ok I totally went off on a tangent. No, I am not someone who has recently been burned or backstabbed by a best friend but these are thoughts that have rested in my mind for a while now. I realised I have lived in a bubble my whole life sheltered from the cruelty that the world has to offer. Im not a pessimist, I do know that there are beautiful things in the world that offset the ugly but it upsets me to know that there are thorns among the roses. Thats the balance of life though right?