Some people are just plain nasty and it is hard to get around that simple fact.
Try as we might to be friendly or warm we are consistently greeted with cold stares, back-stabbing and biting comments. From management, employees, vendors and customers. Mean-spiritedness appears to not be a hereditary trait. We are speaking about people that are sane, have some degree of rationality and by most measures could be classified as normal. Something happens to people that makes them mean and usually angry.