been there done that
Pope,
You're certainly no breath of fresh air, this is CUREzone, not "hopeless zone".
Other people can like us only as much as we like ourselves. The reason a person doesn't like themselves (beyond criminal conduct) is that their sobering humility just naturally causes them to persecute themselves and feel that others are better than they are. They fall for all of the "fast talk" that all the "hotshot wannabees" in the world can dish out. You'll notice that the hotshot wannabees tend to LITERALLY talk FAST hoping that no one notices their lack of TRUE/genuine logic/rationale (you are an offense to their ego/mentality) and how UNJUST they are. The hotshot wannabees don't feel comfortable around a truly noble and decent person (you are an offense to their conscience). The hotshot wannabees rely on having a phony personality and don't have a true NATURE of being NOBLE (they resent a REAL person) and have no real SELF/identity (hollow shell of a person).
The only real reason for somebody not to like a decent person is that the "somebody" resents the decent person for not having any real "insecurities" (the decent person is noble and their conscience needs no defense). In other words, somebody will only resent a decent person and feel uncomfortable around them because of a type of "jealousy". People will like you in direct proportion to how good you make them feel about themselves, and if they feel uncomfortable around you, they are not the kind of person you want to know anyway.