to ask how you deal with friends who are emotional vampires?

[MenaMecca]

A friend has been complaining about his job for eight years now. It's a high paying job where he gets to travel internationally, but apparently all his colleagues are assholes and according to him, stupid.

He always complains about them and vents. It's sucking all my energy.

AIBU to stay away?

It might be that if his life is full of work that he has nothing else to talk about. Tell him he needs to find someone else to vent to and if he can't do that, keep your distance.

You can't fix a vampire, they have to want to change. Sometimes you get to be the friend that gives them the kick up the arse, and the next friend gets all the benefit, yay.

No yanbu. I have one of these. Have noticed it can sometimes take weeks to recover from their visits. They seem to know when you’re finally feeling better & they suddenly reappear.

I kinda feel guilty because we've been friends for so long, but it's really draining. Like I dread talking to him sometimes because it's just tiring.

Your friend needs to buddy up with a colleague in the same workplace who shares his views.

I hated my last workplace and vented on a daily basis about how crap management were, difference is I did it to colleagues who agreed and it bonded us, nothing like a common enemy to unite people.

If he thinks people who don't work there want to hear him bang on about it, his social skills are sadly lacking.