Hard Lessons

I wanted to report that I’ve learned and grown since the incident, or even since I started this blog. I really wish I could, I wish I could say that I have risen above, and that he’s an asshole (he is) and that he’s never going to respect me (he isn’t) so I don’t give a damn. But I can’t.

My typical day goes like this:
Around 8am: open the lab, spend the next hour or two alone in lab getting work done, happily. This is my favorite time of day.
Around 10 am: people start trickling in, this is fine, and we say our good mornings, exchange pleasantries.
Around 11 am: they come in. “They” are the aforementioned pig and his girlfriend. At this point I put on headphones, and turn up the volume so I can’t hear them talk.
Throughout the day I occasionally chat briefly with the other three (we got a new grad student, yay!), sometimes talk to the boss, this is usually when they’re at lunch. I spend ~80% of my day in silence, with headphones on, trying to avoid the glares, ignoring the way he talks to her, and generally trying really hard to pretend that it doesn’t bother me.
Then I go home (time varying between 7 and 10pm).

The upside? I’m focused and productive.
The downside? I’m lonely – and consequently very chatty when I go home (my poor husband).

I know I should just ignore him, and move one without caring what he says about me, but right now this is the only way I know how, and it sucks.