A few months ago. I was new entrant in this group and a woman, F was assigned to on-board me. We started off on a bad note. My efforts to be friendly were rebuffed - she made it clear she was doing her job and not interested in anything further. I learn things by asking questions and have always been fearless about it. This was simply not the right plan with F. She made it a point to be outright rude if I asked anything at all with answers ranging from I don't know, I don't care to that should be no concern of yours. I was absolutely gob-smacked by the level of unprofessionalism.
This is a person with multiple degrees from top universities in America. The first meeting I chalked it up to F was having a bad day, she had a couple of kids returning to school after summer break and things were off to a rough start as they tend to be. In our second meeting, I asked her a clarifying question on something she had started to explain was promptly accused of being litigious. I don't recall that word ever being used by anyone in the context of work I do - such vocabulary was likely the enduring benefit of F's elite over-education.
F poses an interesting challenge for me. I don't need to or aim to befriend her but I do require her to respect my authority even though my background is nowhere as privileged as hers. She had her fun hazing me like it was back to undergrad freshman days but that will need to give way to acting her age and learning to be professional even if the other party is a plebian. Time will tell how I will fare in my goals. I am hoping to do that without condescension and sarcasm that comes to me a bit too easily when dealing with people like F - this is my opportunity to improve myself too, not remain frozen in time.
Comments