Don’t sell yourself short. Ten years ago, I was painfully awkward. The couldn’t make direct eye contact, easily flustered and tripping over my words, people asking if I was on the spectrum kind of awkward. I’m not a master by any stretch of the imagination but I’m a solid 7/10. It took a few years to get here but that’s good enough the majority of the time.
lying gossips who badmouth everyone when they leave the room
Oooh, yeah. That changes things. We have a few of those but I don’t have to work directly with any of them. I’m polite and kind but otherwise distant with those. You’re right not to engage. No one wins with those types of people.