Bullying

Bullying is a hot topic these days and I had heard something on tv about adults being bullied in the workplace. I thought I was long past the age, and long past the temperament of being bullied -- that is until last week.

I had called a company whose website I was having difficulty with. The person I talked to was curt -- and told me that my AOL email said a lot about my difficulty (meaning AOL users are stupid) and said AOL brands me as a "rank amateur." Really? Unfortunately I was acting on behalf of a client so I couldn't tell the guy to go eff himself.

I have to say that even though his words were preposterous, it still stung. He sort of backed off by the end of the conversation as I didn't rise to his bait and he told me that I am "probably a nice lady."

And I thought later that this guy is a bully. Had never thought of it that way before.

Now, today, I wrote an email to someone I don't know and got the nastiest email in response, as if I were some scam artist. Really aggressive. So I responded, opening my email with Wow! and then re-explaining why I was contacting him in a calm way. This is someone in the aviation industry who didn't know me. After my explanation, he replied in an equally calm way and so I dropped it.

Another bully is our midst. I can't imagine going from zero to 60 in one second like these guys did. I am not some delicate flower, but I am not used to be talked to/written to in succh a nasty way.

I don't really have a point to all this, other than now knowing that bullying is not just something that happens on the playground.