In grad school, and in my first postdoc, I had some really brilliant and great people as advisors. In my first "real job" (sort of a postdoc really), I ended up working for three utter trash human beings. It really colored my outlook on life and work. I'm trying not to be too cynical, but now, my gift to my bosses is lying low, flying under the radar, while still doing a great job (as attested in my yearly performance evals). In turn, their gift to me is not planting a knife in my back (or my front). Same goes for co-workers. I expect nothing more out of work at this point. I am always courteous, polite, and professional, but there is almost zero socializing (don't care about their kids' latest amazing accomplishments in fact!). Given that my position is nearly that of a consultant (even though I'm paid on a W2 basis), this t is not really out of line with anyone's expectations.
I'll play the game until I FIRE them. LOL. Overall, however, things are not too bad, and I have an actual pension, great benefits, in addition to several other retirement accts, and a nice office with a view of beautiful TREEEEEES! ( I LOVE TREES!) so can't complain too much