This is me just ranting.
This isn’t my first rodeo of work but it’s very deja vu right now. To easily explain this is I’m not really allowed to have work friends. Doesn’t matter the gender. I’m not allowed to talk to anyone because rumors start to spiral and I’m not allowed to bring it up or I seem like a crazy person.
When this first happened I was 25 and I knew some customers and I had a coworker who was in their 50s who went out of their way to spread rumors about me that I would flirt with the male customers (I had to lied at the time I was dating someone to my manager).
This time two years later, I have another coworker in their 50s who now spreading rumors that me and a coworker are dating. I’m at the point I’m done talking and I’m just going to do my work.