Perhaps I am sensitive. Okay, I know I am. On an ordinary day, were someone to be patronizing with truly insulting remarks, I might be pushed to counter with, “who the hell are you?” However that same sort of condescension in the workplace forces one to elicit a completely different response. I have not yet mastered the “yes sir/ma’am” reply to any and all remarks. It’s just NOT in my DNA. I am also not one to become argumentative. I do have one line of defense which evidently does not go over well. (oops.)
My knee jerk reaction to being insulted and patronized at my job—a job I take quite seriously—is a deep sigh and less than sincere agreement. I rather despise the word ‘snarky’, though that is what I am accused of.
In my defense, this only happens when there is someone, no doubt with a power trip, who wishes to plume their feathers by degrading my knowledge and expertise. For example, as I tried to explain what I thought needed changing in an office document, I was repeatedly interrupted—I mean REPEATEDLY. Four times, to be exact—I was met with, “you’re wrong”. By the fourth time I sat back in my chair and conceded in a less than agreeing tone that came out, “Okay, fine… I’m wrong.”
WELL… it’s EXHAUSTING. It’s also poor communication skills and mostly, it’s ridiculously annoying to be dismissed in such a manner. I have no acceptable recourse—that I am capable of—other than abject defeat, swathed in a layer of sarcasm. I am not saying this is appropriate behavior. It is however a part of me that would take a team of hypnotists, and whomever those people are that reprogram cult victims, to change.
So, clearly the easiest fix to my behavioral issue is to be less condescending towards me—and the rest of the world. Simple, huh? And, truth be told, there is no place in either the workplace or the world for delusional, overbearing superiority complexes that exist solely to demean and degrade.
In the meantime, as I struggle with this dilemma, I will work on my reprogramming… though I don’t hold out much hope. I wonder how people handle this scenario? I fear it’s more common than uncommon in the workplace. I suppose I could work at becoming impervious to condescension, but I rather like my personality the way it is—adorably acerbic. 🙂
Xoxo DDJ
Dealing With Fools 
i usually end up saying something rude..like “you have one mouth and two ears for a reason. Did you forget that?”