Roy
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LAST EDITED ON Oct-27-11 AT 01:33PM (MST)[p]So I work with a guy who seriously has some disturbing personality issues - what a piece of work! I just started this job on August 1 so I am still the new guy. This guy has been here for a while and has been giving me the "new guy" treatment - typical hard time / semi-hazing. So I have just good naturedly put up with it. He is an ex-military interrogator / arabic linguist and he really has a different way about him. None of this really bugs me at all. I am easy to get along with. I know it takes all kinds to make a world and I just thought that was his routine and so I have endured.
We work in a pretty small office (there are 5 of us) and we all are pretty quiet throughout the day. There is very little chit-chat (now I know why). But, I am a very loud typer, and when I type I really hit the keys pretty hard. I am also a fairly fast typer and since writing has been one of the key components of my occupation for the past 10 years I can go all day. Well, I guess it is too loud for him and he can't concentrate because of it. He has made some comments about it in the past but because of the general hard time he generally gives me, I just chalked it up to good natured ribbing and apologized and went on about my work.
Until Monday. All of a sudden, out of nowhere at about 2:30PM I am logging in to one of my e-mail accounts to e-mail a student back an answer to a question I have been researching and he yells at me "NO YOU DON'T!" and goes off on me, lecturing me about how what I do is not part of "our mission" here and basically accuses me of stealing time here, denigrates my work by inferring that his job is more important that mine and that he is 100% on-task all the time and basically questions my integrity.
Well, I apologized for any inconvenience or disturbance I may have caused through my typing and just basically brushed it off (talked with my boss about it too and he is in the loop and actually on the ball with all of it), but I didn't really let it change the way I work. I have nothing to to worry about - nothing to hide or change at all.
Fast forward to today, I haven't said one or two words to him since Monday at all, just went about my business and made sure I typed quieter, (even used a rubber keyboard) and though I didn't change my routine or they way I do my job, just made sure I was above reproach, (even did from start to finish an 80 hour yearly training module in 12 hours over the course of M,T&W). Then, again, all of a sudden, he asks me if I was the one following behind him out of work yesterday. I couldn't really remember, there was no incident at all, I wasn't driving crazy or aggressive, I just got over to the right as soon as I could and stopped in at a 7-11 to pick up few things. So, the question seemed a little absurd. I said "Not that I know of." and then he became a little agitated and said "Are you saying that you weren't driving like a maniac behind me trying to kill me?" WOAH.
Apparently he was in front of me and thought I was driving "like a maniac" and tyring to pass him on the right and accused me of trying to kill him. He then tells me that he saw me pull in to the 7-11 and took down my license plate - all the while yelling at me and getting right in my face, trying to bully me and intimidate me. And then walked away before I could even reply, (which was probably a good thing).
Well, that was it - I did not try to intimidate back or even do anything unprofessional, but since he was very angrily berating me I did raise my voice (not yelling though) and told him that it ends here, that he will not question my integrity and accuse of me of crap that never happened again and that he was creating a hostile work environment for me through his actions.
Anyway, the boss got involved again, he is going to have a serious talk with him tomorrow that will probably involve some progressive discipline. The dude is working off-site today giving a lecture so he left but I am just never ever even going to speak to him again other than "Hi" and "Bye", if that.
How do you guys deal with crazies like this?
HOOK 'EM!
We work in a pretty small office (there are 5 of us) and we all are pretty quiet throughout the day. There is very little chit-chat (now I know why). But, I am a very loud typer, and when I type I really hit the keys pretty hard. I am also a fairly fast typer and since writing has been one of the key components of my occupation for the past 10 years I can go all day. Well, I guess it is too loud for him and he can't concentrate because of it. He has made some comments about it in the past but because of the general hard time he generally gives me, I just chalked it up to good natured ribbing and apologized and went on about my work.
Until Monday. All of a sudden, out of nowhere at about 2:30PM I am logging in to one of my e-mail accounts to e-mail a student back an answer to a question I have been researching and he yells at me "NO YOU DON'T!" and goes off on me, lecturing me about how what I do is not part of "our mission" here and basically accuses me of stealing time here, denigrates my work by inferring that his job is more important that mine and that he is 100% on-task all the time and basically questions my integrity.
Well, I apologized for any inconvenience or disturbance I may have caused through my typing and just basically brushed it off (talked with my boss about it too and he is in the loop and actually on the ball with all of it), but I didn't really let it change the way I work. I have nothing to to worry about - nothing to hide or change at all.
Fast forward to today, I haven't said one or two words to him since Monday at all, just went about my business and made sure I typed quieter, (even used a rubber keyboard) and though I didn't change my routine or they way I do my job, just made sure I was above reproach, (even did from start to finish an 80 hour yearly training module in 12 hours over the course of M,T&W). Then, again, all of a sudden, he asks me if I was the one following behind him out of work yesterday. I couldn't really remember, there was no incident at all, I wasn't driving crazy or aggressive, I just got over to the right as soon as I could and stopped in at a 7-11 to pick up few things. So, the question seemed a little absurd. I said "Not that I know of." and then he became a little agitated and said "Are you saying that you weren't driving like a maniac behind me trying to kill me?" WOAH.
Apparently he was in front of me and thought I was driving "like a maniac" and tyring to pass him on the right and accused me of trying to kill him. He then tells me that he saw me pull in to the 7-11 and took down my license plate - all the while yelling at me and getting right in my face, trying to bully me and intimidate me. And then walked away before I could even reply, (which was probably a good thing).
Well, that was it - I did not try to intimidate back or even do anything unprofessional, but since he was very angrily berating me I did raise my voice (not yelling though) and told him that it ends here, that he will not question my integrity and accuse of me of crap that never happened again and that he was creating a hostile work environment for me through his actions.
Anyway, the boss got involved again, he is going to have a serious talk with him tomorrow that will probably involve some progressive discipline. The dude is working off-site today giving a lecture so he left but I am just never ever even going to speak to him again other than "Hi" and "Bye", if that.
How do you guys deal with crazies like this?
HOOK 'EM!
