You say small talk is “irrelevant” to your job, but since you lost that job for not doing it, and it sounds like not for the first time, it is, by definition, extremely relevant.
“I felt they weren’t listening to me.” That is how, by your own admission, you made them feel for 8 weeks. To turn your question around, why should they listen to you?
I understand how you feel. I never understood natural small talk in school, and like you I was ostracized for it.
But the difference is I recognized how important it was to have allies in any environment, and the only way you get them is via socializing.
So I tried, I suffered, I learned and I got better. And that I did that again, and again, and again.
Have you made that effort? You already said you haven’t.
But this episode clearly hurt you, and it’s happened in the past, so don’t you think it’s time to learn?
Einstein once said that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
Have you accepted that if you don’t change, these things will happen, again and again, for the rest of your life? If not, you are insane.
You say they are thin skinned, but to a few external observers, this long post also feels that way. Either don’t change and accept the known consequences of your actions without complaint, or adapt.
Of course it’s difficult. But people do difficult things every day. Think of it as a challenge. In addition to asking “do we give sodium bicarbonate by metabolic acidosis or alkalosis?”, also ask “so, have any plans for the weekend?”. And remember both answers, and ask them how whatever they talked about on Monday.
These conversations don’t have to take long, but just engaging for a minute or two will drastically change people’s perceptions of you. Which, considering those people can fire you, is extremely relevant.
Ultimately, your complaint is they don’t care about you. But you admit to not caring about them or their problems either, so I don’t understand why you’d expect a different outcome.
But you need to understand, they feel the same way about you.
When you ignore them and never engage on every topic (Edited for clarity), they think you are giving them the silent treatment, which is also associated with children
Give you the mature ones you can learn from, you say. Have you engaged those people? People will be more likely to teach you if they like you, and they’ll be more likely to like you if you talk to them.
I’m not saying you’re wrong that it shouldn’t be this way, and I am agreeing with you that a position of like lab/rad tech with less colleagues might be more fitting to your personality.
But I am saying expecting people to care about you, understand you and treat you well, while you make no effort to do the same, is completely naive and hypocritical.