Yeah that part of this felt highly avoidant. It's one thing to engage in nonsense with random strangers - that is likely useless (irony ensues). But to feel attacked by coworkers who are upset about their jobs is probably just toxic. I assume the author's situation has more nuance than that, but they didn't provide that in their writing.
I made no such assumptions. Doing this in any workplace, tech or no, is toxic to people who are justifiably upset with their workplace. The vibe I was getting was that rather than admit there could be toxic elements at play, the author chooses to blame those complaining instead.
