Well, I saw him at a mutual hang out tonight, and I avoided him entirely, purposefully, and when it looked like he had left, I sat down to talk to some people playing a game. I asked before sitting, “May I join?” and they said yes, the seat was open, so I sat down.

Soon after, he came back in — I thought he had left! He walked over and picked up his keys and began dangling them in my face.

It was annoying to me, so I stated “Please do not do that.”

Then he said, in a harsh tone, “Is there a reason you are sitting in my seat? My keys are here! My stuff is here!”

(Please note: He was already knocked out of the game and technically is no longer allowed to sit at the table – it is a free poker league)

I said, “If you are going to talk to me the way you were last week, I am leaving” and got up and he said “Good! I get my seat back!”

Geez!

So I walked over to watch a friend play, and when he got knocked out and we were leaving, I remembered your words and this advice and decided to stand my ground.

“[Redacted]?”

He looks at me.

me “If you speak to me, you are either going to speak to me respectfully or not at all.”

him “I was being respectful, you took my seat! And –”

me “Your tone was not respectful.”

[he was continuing to talk over me this entire time]

me “The way you spoke to me the other night was not respectful. If you are going to talk to me, you are either going to talk to me respectfully or not at all. The end.”

I got up and left and it felt good.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by jm bee.