A Stealth Blowdarter strikes!
In which I consider what to do with this type of Passive Aggressive asshole
Someone came to my home recently to do a job for me. She was a very nice woman, chatty, friendly, and she definitely knew her stuff. She wasn’t great at living with my decisions, though, repeatedly pushing back against them when she didn’t like them and offering suggestions and alternatives. Which landed like lead balloons. Cuz I know what I want, and I know what I don’t want. Which were all of her suggestions. So I was glad she had arrived to do her job but happy to leave her to her own devices.
Occasionally we ran into each other, though. The first time, I found her cranking open all the windows in a couple rooms. “It’s really hot in here! I’m burning up!” she said. OK.
The next time, as she waited for me to get her a glass of water, she apparently noticed a vase of sorry-looking flowers in the corner of the kitchen. “Looks like you’ll need to get some fresh flowers!” she told me. OK.
When she finished up her job and was putting the shoes that she had considerately taken off back on, I heard her say (not to me), “Look at the soles of my feet. They’re black! From all the dust!”
OK. From your perspective, dear reader, these comments might seem completely harmless. You might not have even noticed them if they were said in your home. But me? I noticed them. I had spent a fair amount of time with this woman making decisions about aspects of my home, and, while I had noticed her desire to be perceived as super sweet, what I felt was her resistance to my decisions and her undercover criticisms.
Her barbs.