The Devolution of Interpersonal Relationships

For the past several months, I have lived in a bit of an optimistic sort of world.  I worked very hard to try to foster some positive relationships in my workplace.  I truly thought that maybe I had made a difference in some of the things in this situation.  I have to be delicate here, because of what is involved, but suffice it to say, my optimism is dwindling. 
The mantra by which I have lived my life has been that of always trying to do the right thing.  Most of the time, this translated into trying to do the right thing for everyone but myself, but that (again) is a topic for another day.  Interpersonal relationships are a huge part of life, and I believe that some people are much more sensitive to those relationships than others.  People interact on a different scale- I am fortunate (I think) to be one of those that seems to experience relationships both from a personal perspective and an outside viewer perspective.  I was not always this way.  I used to take EVERYTHING to heart, meaning that I viewed it as a personal attack on me as a person when things went according to a different plan.  When someone didn't speak to me in the hall, I thought, "Well gee, what did I do?"  If no one asked me where I wanted to eat lunch, I felt left out.  
But I think maturity and a certain amount of thick skin has allowed me to view some of those same things with a different perspective.  I like to try to tell myself that maybe that person who didn't speak was lesson planning in their head for the next class, or worrying about a sick child at home.  Maybe no one asked me to lunch because everyone  thought everyone else had already asked me somewhere.  And that has allowed me to be able to exist in some very rough places.  But at what expense to myself?
I often find that I have spent many more hours helping someone out when it wasn't really my place.  I did that today- I was helping a fellow teacher in need.  I was able to call on another person not even at our school to help me help my friend.  And that was because no one else at our school who taught that subject seemed to want to help this young teacher.  I'm not sure how much I helped her since I don't teach said subject myself, but I sure spent a good portion of my day trying.  And I feel like I did the right thing.  But that is sometimes very hard.
Some dynamics changed at my workplace today, and the old system of uncomfortable interpersonal relationships started over once more.  All of the positive steps and strides that I thought my coworkers and I had made seem to have disappeared in the blink of an eye.  I don't like the direction that these personal relationships are heading.  It makes me sad because I thought I effected some change in the way people thought about each other and about how they treated each other.  I thought friendships and true bonding had emerged, along with some professional respect.  We talked about pedagogy, people, family, students, our lives- and now its as if that camaraderie never existed.  It is maddening and depressing.
But I'll forge on- doing the right thing- working on how I relate to other people- trying to remember how deeply my actions can influence someone else.  If more people tried to consider how THEY can affect OTHERS, I think the world would be a happier place.  I can always console myself with the thought, "You know what runs downhill, right?  So if you're always traveling the high road, you never have to worry about ending up knee deep...."