Too School for Cool

Recently, I have had one too many reminder that some people really REALLY take care not to ever mix their profession lives with their private ones to the point that they are two separate people really. It bugs me on a variety of levels. For once, I simply feel that it is sad and must be exhausting to feel that you have to play a certain role every (work) day that might be completely different from what you would otherwise behave like. What is infuriating is that it is only natural that people who get to know you in your professional role to base their evaluation of you as a person on that version they get to see. It can lead to friendships based on wrong assumptions or prevent them from happening in the first place. Why is it an excuse for arrogant or bossy behaviour that somebody is "actually super nice in real life". Why are they not super nice (while still professional and compliant) 9 to 5 Monday to Friday as well? Why do they feel that it is socially acceptable to deny being friends with certain people just because they happen to work with them as well. I am not talking about workplace affairs or scenarios where one person reports to another, but just a general paranoia of feeling you need to put on a metaphorical armour in order to be taken seriously and not risk being accidentally considered a (vulnerable, empathic) human being rather than a robot. It definitely has not always worked in my favour, but I could not be a different person at work if I tried. And I'm okay with that.