January 19, 2025 at 6:50 am

Her Coworker Is Full Of Himself And Talks To Her Like She’s A Child, So She Cut Off His Ability To Patronize Her

by Ashley Ashbee

Source: Pexels/Thirdman/Reddit

Some people try to make you think that they are smarter than you, but when you remove their opportunities to make you a sounding board, it can help you keep your distance from them.

See how the person in this story put an end to her coworker’s condescending habits.

Condescend to me? Cool, I’ll match energy.

I work at factory that builds parts.

I’m in quality, so I work with engineers, but I am not one.

Also, I am not a morning person.

I work second shift for a reason; it takes me at least two cups of coffee to be functional and pleasant on a good day.

But this was not a good day.

My shift normally starts around 3, but this particular week, I was coming in at 9 to work with Jeremy on first shift to train for a certification.

Jeremy is the only other guy in the whole building who has the cert.

He’s a pretty chill older gentleman who probably should have retired a long time ago, but he gets bored sitting at home doing nothing.

He’s soft spoken, though, and only talks when he has something important to say.

At 9AM, we get along like gangbusters.

There are several engineers going in and out of the room at any given time, and then there’s Barry, who is an engineering tech, not an engineer.

Doesn’t have an engineering degree.

Every person I’ve ever talked to about Barry has said that if he was half as smart as he thought he was, he’d be twice as smart as anyone else in the building.

And this guy is testing her patience.

He’s pompous, condescending and loud.

He will get on a tangent and just keep talking at you.

He overestimates his likability.

He’ll corner you in the hallways just to pat himself on the back about something.

In short, Barry is kryptonite to 9:00 a.m. Squeegee brain.

On Tuesday of this week, Barry came into the room around our normal start time (after I’d been there for 6 hours).

Though I was in a generally pleasant mood, I was not particularly inclined to be lectured on the Pythagorean theorem that day.

All I wanted to know was what dimension on the blueprint I was supposed to measure because the instructions were unclear.

I didn’t even ask Barry, I asked another coworker and Barry just happened to overhear.

What I got was 45 minutes of high school geometry.

He kept throwing in little sprinkles of “Now, you don’t have to remember this, but I do,” “Don’t worry, you’ll never have to know this.”

It took everything in me to keep my mouth shut.

Wednesday, I get to work, Jeremy pulls a seat over for me and we start going over the training.

I get to a point a few hours later where I need to use some equipment across the room to take a measurement and Barry walks up.

Makes some offhanded comment about “Look at you trying to learn new things, do you need help with that?”

Nope, I’m good, thanks for offering.

Get trapped in a 30 minute conversation about calibration for my troubles.

So she stops him in his tracks.

Thursday rolls in, and I’m definitely more zombie than human.

I have coffee firmly grasped in my hand and no patience for shenanigans.

I walk into the room and beeline over to Jeremy, but in my zombie state I run smack into Barry.

I mumble an apology, and Barry steps back, and the following happens:

Barry: “Oh, that’s ok. What are you doing here?”

Me, as if I’m talking to a small child: “I work here.”

(Jeremy and the other guys on shift start laughing quietly)

Barry: “Well yes, but what are you doing here?”

Me: ” Working.” (Jeremy and crew are getting less quiet)

Barry: “Well what on?”

Me: “…Work” (someone snorts. All pretense at laughing quietly is forgotten)

And I stood there and just stared at him until he walked away.

He eventually just shrugged and walked off.

But it bought me at least a couple months of Barry-free shifts and he avoids me in the hallways now.

Here is what folks are saying.

I doubt it will ever be in check!

Source: Reddit/Petty Revenge

I was surprised, too. I ought to try this on someone I know who is like that.

Source: Reddit/Petty Revenge

It’s what we’re all thinking.

Source: Reddit/Petty Revenge

Isn’t that strange.

Source: Reddit/Petty Revenge

True! They’re weak people underneath the facade.

Source: Reddit/Petty Revenge

Barry sounds like a misogynist.

And an all-around jerk.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.