To think it's a complete waste of time being nice, kind and friendly?

[malificent7]

Especially in the workplace. People dont respect kind people. I do try to be friendly without too cloying or nosy. I still get treated like shit.
I think people prefer people who are aloof
Or at school the popular people were those who inspire fear rather than the 'nice' people.
Noone likes a wet blanket or on the other extreme a complete scrooge but aibu to give up on friendly and be aloof instead?
And tbh i cant help what my true soft , sensitive nature is...i think people take advantage of this.

Exactly ByStarlight

I really don't get people thinking "Be kind" = "Walk all over me"
To me, being kind is all the little things - giving someone a hand up some steps when they have a pushchair, including everyone when you invite a few people (for lunch or to walk round the block to stretch your legs at lunchtime), offering someone a hand when they are struggling with something, offering someone a lift to somewhere you are going anyway, noticing something someone has done and thanking them, or complimenting them. None of that means someone is walking over me.

Your last 3 posts are about how you are being treated, on your particular placement, in your particular job role. It doesn't sound great, but you can't take from that , that it is a waste of your emotion to be kind, or that people take advantage of you when you are kind.

These days I am 'nice' and would do anything for my friends, but I am also assertive, don't really care what people think of me, and I don't take crap from people.

I spent years in my twenties and early thirties not speaking my mind or taking any kind of crap as I was worried about people not liking me, or about what others would think if I spoke up.

I agree that being nice/kind etc doesn't always get you anywhere. People often walk over or don't respect a nice person. If you make your boundaries clear and they see you actively maintaining your boundaries then people do treat you with more respect.

OP, if all of your colleagues are rude to you and pleasant to one another, one possibility is that they're bullies and you're their target. (Are there other students in the same workplace, and are they similarly treated?) In which case, that's horrible, not your fault and you should consider contacting your line manager/HR/looking up the bullying policy.

The other possibility is that something about your workplace behaviour is rubbing otherwise pleasant professionals up the wrong way, and, if this is the case, it's something you'll need to work on. Are you asking questions you should know the answer to repeatedly? Or at the wrong time? Are you behaving in any way unprofessionally or suggesting a lack of commitment to your job?