I’m surprised to see the act of putting conscious thought into maintaining positive relationships with others defined as “[playing] theatrics.” There are far more theatrics and drama involved in making a point to talk shit and burn bridges in the guise of honesty than there are in simply turning the other cheek and moving on.

Even if you are correct, telling your would-be boss in an interview that your coworkers were pretty and childish is an enormous red flag. Speak to the kind of behaviour that happened, not what you think about it, if you genuinely want to be honest. “I felt overworked as a result of my coworkers failing to meet the expectations put on them by management” is not the same as “my coworkers were lazy.” One is a mixture of perspective and reasonably verifiable outcomes, while the other is a subjective value judgement. Spouting opinions and calling it “honesty” is not honest.

There’s a gap between “willing to be brutally honest when it’s necessary” and “brutally honest in a whim because everyone should feel the same about things as I do.” These types that love to tout just how “brutally honest” they are, tend to lean into the latter.

Most of us can be “brutally honest,” when it’s useful to do so. But often, it’s just a red flag for someone who not only fails to recognize their own bias’, but actively justifies those bias’ as objectively true.

It shouldn’t be hard to value positive relationships, even with less than stellar people, over smug self-satisfaction.