What would you do if an officemate/colleague you considered a friend and confidant commits an act of betrayal towards you for the sake of professional advancement?
A friend of mind is experiencing a dilemma of being in this situation. Over cups of mocha and choco fraps and sticks of cigarettes, she dissected to me the events that led to her frustration and agony. Being personally criticized by a close colleague over a petty incident blown out of proportion had caused her to look for a listening ear [outlet/waste basket] that happened to be me at the time.

With all the reasoning that I could muster, I told her that it’s not her fault if that officemate/so – called friend is currently under an insecurity spell. But she’s still bothered that such a trivial incident would escalate to an awful battle at the corporate ladder. After throngs of advices and insights, which doesn’t seem to make any difference to her problem, I blurted an out of sync and overly sym[pathetic] encouragement:

“It’s not your fault that you have the brains that they envy and can only dream of!”
Which had somehow added to her confusion and dilemma.

Then, I suddenly remembered this passage/thought I stumbled upon somewhere/something I can’t remember:

“In dealing with snakes’ bites, you have to suck the venom and spit it out before it poisons you.”  

She immediately understood the analogy and announced that we can move over to the next less – stressing topics and just relax the night away.

Truly, in this corporate jungle that we are currently in; company politicking, mudslinging and being victimized by the office grapevines and gossip – mongers, actually do exist and such are considered a given variable every employee should [learn to] deal with. Awful as it is, that’s the corporate reality.

To you my friend, my 98 cents worth I wasn’t able to tell you last night: Power – hungry and ego – tripping bigwig wannabes had mastered, and still mastering this art [of bulldozing their way to the top] for reasons that will make us puke once we find out. They are even worse than those who are in position because of nepotism [its not what you know, but WHO you know practice]. I personally reserve them the credit for what they’re due and somehow see it as a smart tactic, career – wise. Though smart as they are, remember that person of disposition knows better.