Being judged: Office "jokes" about training

OsricTheKnight

Zippedydoodah wrote: »

ohmscheeks wrote: »

Right, so... They made a joke and you joked back with them. By playing along, you signaled that the joke was "ok" and encouraged similar behavior for the future. Then, came to trash them online for the joke? You might feel better if you engage in honest communication rather than assume everyone is a bully.

Would be great to know how you would have handled it - I find it challenging to navigate how to respond when people make remarks that sting because often I find that any reaction apart from a joking one invites a pretty bad reaction.

So your thoughts would be great on that and I can always give that a try the next time

Given the history that you feel these guys have been making your life rough, I think it's bad to let it slide/play along.

In a large workplace where such issues are taken seriously, you might say "Trying to give me a reason to visit HR about you again?" and laugh it off. Any male with any sense will see the extremely serious threat behind that "joke". You could actually visit HR over a series of such incidents, but if you really wanted to do that it would be better to have some small group of women who feel persecuted by the bad guys.

In other work environments, consider how much you love your job. Do you need to be there? No harm in seeking out a better workplace if not. If you want/need your job, consider directly saying "go away" or some other clearly annoyed response. In a truly casual workplace you could give them the finger ... though perhaps that puts you below their level.

Osric