If you act like a worm, don't complain when you get stepped on!
"If you act like a worm, don't complain when you get stepped on."
Yesterday I saw this quote on my way to work. I mentioned in another thread that I had a problem with my coworker. She yelled at me for no reason in front of other people, and I was ashamed because I didn't defend myself.
She yelled at me because I tried to open a freezer. Seriously. I work in a laboratory in Germany. I am an American and I work in German with Germans. I only started learning German about 3 years ago, so that makes me even more insecure about asserting myself. I go to open this freezer. And from behind me, across a room with three other coworkers in it, this person screams "NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN" as if the freezer would explode if I opened it. And I let her get away with talking to me like I'm a dog, and was humiliated in front of my coworkers.
So yesterday as I stood on the subway platform, dreading another work day, I saw the quote above. And I decided that today is not too late to demand that this person treat me with respect. This was not the first time she has disrespected me, as a foreigner and a nice American I have made myself into an easy target.
I told her that I wanted to talk to her about how she yelled at me yesterday in front of our coworkers. I said I don't know why she thinks it's ok to talk to people that way, but it's not ok with me. And from now on I demand a respectful tone from her. And that in the future, if she needs to tell me something, my name is Farfaraway and not Nein nein nein. And that she's not to yell at me again because I'm not an animal.
She was shocked! She tried to explain WHY the freezer needed to stay closed, but I cut her off and said I am not talking about the freezer rather about respect, and that I don't ever want to have this conversation with her again.
All of this in German! I don't think she'll be disrespecting me any time soon. One coworker who I am a bit close to came to me later and said she was proud of me for standing up to this coworker. I am pretty proud too, and wanted to share.