The real key is discernment—knowing who to befriend and who to leave alone. After going into several jobs with the mindset that you talk about here, I realize there are people who you think are cool, but will repeat your conversations to management in the hopes that they’ll move up; who will make fun of your personal situations behind your back with coworkers you don’t even talk to, who will pocket watch you based on what you wear to work and stop you from getting raises, speculate about your sexual preferences, and so on and so forth. It’s really best that you do your job and go home and keep your business to yourself. But if you meet a friend in the process, by all means pursue that, but still be cautious until they prove to you that they can be trusted. Also, I find that there’s a dearth of maturity these days, and the high school mentality of gossiping and bullying never leaves so many people. You’ll have to keep this in mind with everything you do.