Adult bullies.
Have you ever had to work with people who are just nasty?
I don't mean nasty in a dirty, smelly way, or nasty in a dirty joke telling way, but nasty in a they are mean way.
I've worked with some people who believe they are above everyone else, that they know everything, they talk down to others, and feel they have every right to do this.
They go out of their way to tell you they've been doing the job longer than you, they know more about a subject than you, they can read better than you, just really snobby behavior.
I can't freaking stand it.
Know it alls, snobs, sarcastic, scathing. They claim they just tell it like it is, but what it really is is just mean.
It's like adult bullying.
Actually, I can't even call them adults because they don't behave like adults, they behave like playground bullies.
I try to keep a positive outlook on things, I rant and complain when I have to, just like everyone else, but I do try to keep the positivity flowing as best I can.
I don't know what it is about these kinds of people.
Even when they say mean things to me, I blow it off and stay positive.
I do think about it, but I don't dwell on it.
I was thinking about it just now, and so I figured I'd ask all of you, how do you handle adult bullies?
How do you deal with people who go out of their way to put others down?
Comments
I commented over at Facebook on this.
The other topic that came to mind was... not just bullies, but women who talk behind each others' backs? Like my co-workers? Oh, there's a blog entry for me!
Posted by: terry | December 9, 2007 3:16 PM
I was recently reading somewhere that this is finally considered abuse. Not that it helps much.
Posted by: Chris | December 9, 2007 3:31 PM
Luckily, I have never worked with anyone like that. I would hope that if I encountered a person like you described that I would not take them seriously and focus on what I needed to do. Although, the hoodrat in me would want to put the culprit in their place.
Posted by: Brandi | December 10, 2007 8:13 AM
Richard had a "boss" last year that was very much like this. He was HORRID. A know nothing jerk, who really hassled Richard about EVERYTHING. THe funny thing is that this guy had like next to no experience, and no formal education, and here he was putting down and harassing someone with a decade of experience, with two degrees (BA and MFA) The only reason this guy got his job is brown nosing and we can only assume someone owed his mom a big favor or something. Anyway, he made racially charged comments about Richard (behind his back) and we actually retained a lawyer. He was "let go" the day after Christmas last year, and offered severance pay, which this place NEVER offers anyone, just to keep his mouth shut and not sue the company.
We wanted to continue with the legal system but honestly it wasn't worth it. We heard a rumor that the jerk was let go himself some months later.
FWIW, this ass also stalked us for a while via my blog until I finally found the ban plugin. In my archives there are some humorous rants directed at him.
Posted by: Carla | December 10, 2007 10:33 AM