Ugh...please give your opinion on this work issue...

[starrzone]

I'm near the end of a temporary job in a VERY small office; there are 3 small rooms, with 2 of us in each room. One room has the boss and the person directly under him; the people in the other 2 rooms, including me, have very similar duties. The other person in my room, whom I'll call "Joan", is a retired teacher in her 60s.

From the very first day on the job, this woman has treated me like I'm about 6years old. A big part of our job is organizing data and inputting it into a computer; Joan has reiterated over and over "I've been using computers for 30 years", yet she seems to have no concept of how to use the Internet. She's constantly chastising me about how my written numbers aren't clear enough, about how I forgot to write this ONE thing down on a certain piece of paper (and truly, if any mistakes are made with the work we're doing, people will be unhappy but it will NOT a)kill anybody, or b)affect national security). She is so darn nit-picky and anal, I can't describe it. She's always accusing me of "not caring" about our work, when in reality it's because I don't agree with something or other that she wants to do. She makes statements like "We're going to do X now", without asking me if I want to do it.

Fast forward to what happened Friday...our office is pretty casual. We all, even the boss, talk to each other informally; we're always talking about recipes, things in the news, movies, etc., between offices. Even when we're talking about work things, it's like a big discussion. It can get a bit chaotic at times, but we have fun! On Friday, the boss, his second in command, and Joan were having a discussion about mailing a document to a particular person. The 3 of them were discussing whether or not we should include return postage, because Joan thought that the person receiving the document, a university student in her early 20s, wouldn't return the document to us because she was "just a university student, and I know how they are; they don't do anything unless you guide them". Well, I poked my head around the corner, as any of us would do, and mentioned that there was a post office in the student centre of this young woman's campus, and that she could go there to mail the document back (notwithstanding, I was a bit annoyed that Joan was painting university students as people who aren't smart enough to act on their own, but that's another story...).

Joan came up to me a bit later while we were doing some work, and said "Don't ever interrupt me again. Earlier, when I was talking to the boss and his assistant, you interrupted us and that was very rude". She said some other things, but I was pretty mad and don't remember them. The old me would have said nothing, but I stood up for myself! I said "I do NOT need to be treated like a child. Please do not treat me like that again. You have done the same thing to me when I've been having conversations with other people in this office. I'm not the only one who interrupts. I haven't said anything to you because it's not my place to correct you" She later apologized, saying it was the "teacher in her" that made her correct me.

I'm sorry, but I know MANY retired teachers, and NONE of them act like that! I think it's just her, and that her excuse was a bit lame, but that's not really the issue here. Was I wrong in saying to her what I did, considering that YES, I DID interrupt her, but that's our office culture; we join in on conversations that are not private, that are about office business, even if one of us is not directly involved.

Thanks for any and all advice; I really appreciate it!

 

[Disney Doll]

Sounds like normal office banter and Joan is feeling a bit "motherly" (and not in the good warm fuzzy way) toward you because, I am going to assume here, that you are considerably younger than her.

She did have the courtesy to apologize, so I'd let it go. I'm going to guess that she may treat you a little differently now that you have spoken up.

 

[starrzone]

Sounds like normal office banter and Joan is feeling a bit "motherly" (and not in the good warm fuzzy way) toward you because, I am going to assume here, that you are considerably younger than her.

She did have the courtesy to apologize, so I'd let it go. I'm going to guess that she may treat you a little differently now that you have spoken up.

I think you're spot on with the "motherly" thing. I'm definitely going to let the issue go; this happened in the morning, and by the afternoon it was business as usual. I hope she's more courteous from now on, and treats me more like an equal (although she IS sometimes the same way to our other 2 colleagues, who are also in their 60s...)

 

[Magic Mom]

She apologized for what you percieved as a slight. Did you apologize for what she percieved as a slight?

I would just drop it since you are leaving soon anyway.

 

[Keli]

The office I work in has a similar component to it also, in that people do not hesitate to put their opinion in whenever others are having a discussion. Usually if you don't want others to offer anything then we'll shut a door or just talk quietly.
I wouldn't consider what you did as wrong, I suspect Joan didn't like what you were saying, it had nothing to do with being rude. Had you chimed in to agree with her she probably wouldn't have had a problem.
BUT here's the thing, she apologized and it's the first time you've ever stood up to her and given her a reason to realize she isn't treating you fairly. I think you're right to let bygones be bygones and see if she changes her attitude towards you.