the look

Has anyone else noticed that sometimes after doing something friendly, the reward is being looked at like you are an idiot?  More than once I have held open the lift or a door for someone and instead of a thank you I get an unfriendly look.  I wondered if somehow I had done something offensive in the process of trying to be polite, but then a colleague clarified the matter.  She is a very unpleasant person who has been nicknamed "Dragon Lady" for her habit of breathing fire and contaminating the space around her with toxic fumes.  Dragon Lady's motto is "why communicate when you can decimate."  Dragon Lady is one of the people who gives dirty looks in the lift, which I know because I saw her doing it.  I discovered that she views it not as an act of kindness to her, but an act of stupidity for someone to waste their time holding open a door.  She's really good at finding reasons to blame others; you should see her in action at meetings when she blames everyone else for project difficulties.

Now that I know this, I feel that I should bow to the superior wisdom of the ingrate who I was holding the lift door open for by pushing them out of the lift and closing the door so that I no longer am wasting time.