I went to college with this guy 10 years ago and I considered him a friend up until this year. Something changed in him, and he constantly needs to put me down and I don’t know how to handle it.
We’re both 28, for reference.
Last year, he reported me to the college because I was doing students’ homework for them for some extra cash. He said that what I was doing was depreciating his Diploma. I guess I get it, but what kind of friend would try to get me in trouble for something as harmless as doing people’s homework? He didn’t ask me to stop first or talk to me about it first, he just flat out reported me. Some friend.
Edit: I’m not saying what I did was not wrong. If he valued my friendship, he would have talked to me first. And I would have valued our friendship enough to stop.
I ended up dropping out of the program because of stress. He graduated this spring. I congratulated him and genuinely was happy for him. He then sends me this really childish text, bragging about how he graduated and I didn’t. Here’s a quote from part of the conversation. No joke, this is word for word:
“Hey [my name], just letting you know that I am an engineer now and you aren’t. Also I just got hired at [his work] and am making $34 now just to start. There will be a party at [local bar] to celebrate my graduation. You should come. There will be resumes being taken, you should submit yours, because people like me always need assistants. Even though you are not an engineer by any means.”
I thought, maybe he’s being intentionally arrogant as a joke that I’m supposed to get. But that’s not the case, this kind of talk continued for months. And he means it to be hurtful.
I couldn’t take it anymore, so I blocked him on everything I could think of.
A little bit of background information, I recently started my own business making custom tools. This quote was a part of what he commented on my Instagram picture of one of my tools yesterday:
“You should stop posting these online, it’s really embarrassing because your [tool name] is such a failure. I should redesign all of it for you because I’m actually an engineer at [company name] and have a lot more experience. I could actually do it right, unlike you. I just might help you if you ask me nicely.”
Like, what the hell did I do to deserve that? I don’t know why I let it even bother me because of how obviously immature he is being.
I didn’t respond. I blocked him on Instagram too, but now he’s trying to message me on LinkedIn. Blocked him there now too.
I’m still friends with his brother, so it’s impossible for me to completely block him out from my life unfortunately.
I almost want to explain to him how narcissistic he is, and how his messages are an obvious cry of mental insecurity. I know that that would just be fueling the fire though, and would solve nothing.
He deserves to be put in his place. I don’t know if that’s possible though without me becoming just as petty as he is.
How should I handle this? He’s bound to see me in the future, so there’s no avoiding his bullshit.
Thanks
The best way to get back at someone is to have a great life. Ignore him and block him, and carry on with your great life.
He’s obviously insecure, fragile, and arrogant. Move on - you’ll never win anything by stopping to his level, and you’ll never convince him to change his ways by putting him in his place. The older you get, the more you realize quickly people just aren’t worth your time.
When you see him next, just ignore him. When he gossips about you to his brother or your friends in an attempt to get a rise out of you, laugh and ignore him.
Have a great life, and fuck that guy.
Thank you. Spot on.
Well said - great advice. Giving this guy as little room in OP’s head as possible and concentrating on having a good life is the best answer
And I will have a good life :)
I’m actually an engineer at [company name]
Bro it’s petty revenge time. [Company name] needs to see these messages and asked if this is representative of their company values.
This is my thought too.
Being the bigger person is all well and good but sometimes petty revenge hits different.
You do not wanna mess with narcissists though, it’s not worth the trouble.
Likely would be difficult to get those messages in front of the right person at said company. Also bit hard to for them to verify it is not some scam. I wouldn’t bother but it is a nice thought.
This man is NOT your friend, and even if he is, it’s not your responsibility to fix him and solve his problems, or even “put him in his place”. Otherwise, as you’ve realized, he will drag you down to his level and make you as cynical and miserable as he is.
You should put whatever you had with him behind you at this point and try not to interact with him in the future, and if you are put into a situation where you have to interact with him, use the “grey rock” strategy and be as boring as possible.
This sound like the best thing to do. Just ignore him and move on, try not to waste any more energy on him. If put in the same room as him, don’t interact with him. If he starts talking with you, try explaining that you do not want to talk with him and just keep ignoring. Never give a bully a reaction.
Like, what the hell did I do to deserve that? I don’t know why I let it even bother me because of how obviously immature he is being.
Odds are that you did nothing. He’s clearly an emotional vulture, he probably does it towards everyone around him.
I don’t recommend framing it as immaturity, as it might give you the false hope that he’ll “grow up” and get better over time. Perhaps he gets better, but odds are that he won’t.
Some people might say “let it go”, or “vengeance is never good, it kills the soul and poisons it”. I’m almost 40 and I got something to say about this pacifist discourse:
Screw this masochistic shit. When you turn the other face you are not saying “I’m better than him”; you’re saying “he’s right in treating me as trash, as I am trash”. You want to ruin his life and make him regret existing.
So, here’s what I’d do:
- Document every single time that he contacts you, including the contents. Record calls, save e-mails, take screenshots.
- He’s likely doing this with other people too, contact them. Former friends and any ex-SO are a good start. Ideally they should do the same as you (document it) and you should act in unison. Do not let him notice that you’re acting together though, be as stealthy as possible.
I couldn’t take it anymore, so I blocked him on everything I could think of. […] This quote was a part of what he commented on my Instagram picture of one of my tools yesterday:
That’s actually great for you. It means that he kept contacting you after showed clear desire to not be contacted further. Depending on the local laws this gives you grounds for legal action.
And since the guy is a fucking idiot flaunting the fact that he’s an engineer, you might also contact his business. Be polite towards them, but highlight the fact that one of their employees is harassing you. Even if he doesn’t get fired, it’ll put him in a poor position later on.
He deserves to be put in his place. I don’t know if that’s possible though without me becoming just as petty as he is.
The difference between “being petty” and “standing your ground” is why. You are in a position to screw him up without being petty.
You’ll also want to ruin the psychological “kick” that he gets from harassing you. Ignoring him on the surface (while documenting it) is a good approach, because he’ll feel unsatisfied but he’ll try a bit harder.
Also shield yourself psychologically. Remember - you are not the problem, he is the problem.
Vengeance is not a dish to be served cold. You warm it in the blood of your enemies.
Thank you. That makes sense.
While I second documenting things since it sounds like you’re being harassed, I do not agree with the motive.
I dunno. If he keeps mentioning his employer, ah, they will want to know that, but this shouldn’t be about revenge- more about ending the harassment. Though chances are he will escalate if he gets fired or sees disciplinary action. (And he will at least be told to knock it off. Hes making them look bad.)
Also? Your probably a better engineer than he is- and that’s why he’s being an ass. a stupid slip of paper doesn’t mean jackshit. Well, it does, but it doesn’t make him an engineer. there’s plenty of people who are amazing engineers without a formal education.
(For example, Burt Munro. There’s a movie that you might like- Worlds fastest Indian. He holds the land speed record for the under-1k hp engines. On an engine he cast pistons by mixing pistons from different makes to get the right alloy.)
Thanks. I’m not trying to boost my ego here when I say this, but I have a lot more experience with Engineering and CAD modelling than he does. Pretty sure he feels threatened.
He has his formal piece of paper and his formal job, which I suppose outranks my outside-of-school experience, because it’s proper and formal.
Take screenshots, especially those on public forums. It’s defamation.
Not really. He is being a dick, so turn yourself into a bigger dick? Document all interactions? Wtf kinda bullshit is this.
Having and nurturing a grudge against that guy does not help you in any way. Ignore him and live your own life happily. Not worth wasting your time and happiness like that.
He is being a dick, so turn yourself into a bigger dick?
Fighting back is not being a dick.
Document all interactions? Wtf kinda bullshit is this.
Documenting all interactions gives OP the necessary resources to transform this into a legal matter, if OP so desires.
Having and nurturing a grudge against that guy does not help you in any way.
Not fighting back will likely end with OP feeling like shit, with a bigger grudge towards the bully and himself for not acting.
Ignore him and live your own life happily. Not worth wasting your time and happiness like that.
Did you even read the OP??? This shit has been going for TEN YEARS. OP already tried to ignore him, it did not work; OP already tried to contact him in a friendly way (congratulating him for the grad), and it did not work either. Odds are that this shit will go on until someone forces the moron to stop.
That what you naive pacifists don’t get - “just walk away lol! how hard it is lmao!” does not always work. It won’t make the bullying “magically” stop, nor “magically” prevent the psychological damage to the person.
“friend” - you keep using this word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.
Is the sudden personality change as drastic as it reads?
Sudden switches like that could be a sign of a serious medical condition, mid 20s is I believe a common age for these things to kick in too.
I’d talk to the brother about it coming from an angle of concern.
I think I can almost remember the exact day that he shifted. We were talking about our previous girlfriends and he very openly bragged that he’s slept with better looking women than I have (I’m not like that). He kept talking about it over and over that day, I could see he was getting a lot of enjoyment out of it.
Before this, he was a different person. Overall good morals, good friend for the most part, rarely put me down.
It was very sudden.
It was also about the time he started to drink really heavily, but that might not be directly related.
Starting to drink really heavily is… well a key bit of information. I lost some friends years back when I got depressed. Didn’t even realize what I was doing, I just became an unfunny dick and thought I was the opposite. Didn’t realize what went wrong till I climbed back out of the depression. Still regret losing them as friends to this day.
Too much water under the bridge to talk to them again?
Yeah too long since and now too awkward. Not even sure how to get in touch with them.
Too bad. :(
rarely put me down.
But he did put you down. That’s not a good friend. He was like this the whole time, but chose to mostly hold back. Now he’s stopped.
Remove him from your life.
It was also about the time he started to drink really heavily, but that might not be directly related.
Oh… Well there you go! He’s probably drunk when he posts those things. He probably thinks they’re very witty and funny in a cool guy sort of way. He probably doesn’t remember in the morning and then feels guilty when he sees them. Does he delete the posts the next day or two after saying them? If so, that’s typical blackout drunk behavior.
Yes he has deleted Facebook messages he sent me on many occasions. Luckily I take screenshots.
That’s probably the answer to the riddle then. He’s a blackout drunk, and a mean one at that.
BTW, his arrogance about being an engineer right after graduating is laughable. As someone who has been a software engineer for 20 years now, I wouldn’t consider him an engineer. I would consider him someone who potentially has the education to become an engineer. I’m still learning things every day after 20 years, and there are days that I feel like idk WTF I’m doing or how I deserve my job. By all accounts I’m good at what I do, but I still have a lot of shit to learn. His arrogance at accomplishing step 1 of a 30 year path is pathetic. It sounds like you’re doing well for yourself, so just keep that up and write this guy off as a loss. If he keeps harassing you then get a restraining order.
Or some sort of personal issue as the cause. Maybe you slept with someone he liked, maybe you are someone he liked, could he have looked up to you and then in your eyes you came crashing down?
Dude this shithead isn’t your friend. I have enemies who have more respect for me than this guy does for you…
Dump this dick
fuck this moron, drive on with your life, he’s a bucket of nuclear waste
Yeah, but like, after he throws a bottle of bee pheromones through his window, right?
I mean if you have such thing handy, if you’re going to synthesize it and supply the critters I’d advocate murder hornets. or if you’re really evil and brave, bed bugs
Anybody who says “I might just help if you ask me nicely” deserves to be cut out of your life completely.
This guy sounds like a text book narcissist. The worst thing you can do is tell a narcissist they are a narcissist. It will do nothing and will only make them double down. The best thing you can do is cut them out of your life.
I had a similar situation when I was in my 20s. Friend I had that I’ve known since highschool would always make remarks about how I got so lucky with my job. Because I was making decent money (more than him) without a degree and he was an engineer. It didn’t matter that I worked my ass off and put in thousands of hours, I was lucky.
If I would ever push back or say something he would just double down. I couldn’t bring up the fact that I didn’t have parents that paid for everything while I was in school, so I had to work and go to college at the same time. I finally realized that was just the way he was going to be, so I limited contact with him. However, his comments never went as far as what you are describing. So, I think you’re doing the right thing by just blocking him.
I highly recommend reading the book Emotional Vampires. It teaches you about the different personality types you’ll run into in the working world and how to deal with each type (when you can’t just avoid them). I wish I had read it 20 years ago.
I’d say you got it down. Just keep blocking and avoiding. At least now you know he’s not your friend, so you won’t walk into any incidental interactions thinking otherwise.
Exactly. If he approaches me in person, I’m not going to pretend he’s my friend and stroke his batshit crazy ego, I’m going to treat him neutrally but not entertain him.
This situation sounds like what restraining orders are designed to help with. IANAL, but restraining orders generally cover all types of communication, including social media. Showing that he has continued to harass you even after blocking him is good reason.
“You should stop posting these online, it’s really embarrassing because your [tool name] is such a failure. I should redesign all of it for you because I’m actually an engineer at [company name] and have a lot more experience. I could actually do it right, unlike you. I just might help you if you ask me nicely.”
Out if curiosity, have you ever tried calling his bluff? Reply with how would he improve it by saying any constructive criticism is appreciated. Something like
Do you have any recommendations on how to improve it. Looking to make as good as I can.
Depending on how you’re feeling, you could incorporate tagging their company. Use the same language they used. Something like
I’d love any constructive criticism from an actual engineer from @company
That said, it seems like the time to reply like that has past and it’s best to ignore/block him at this point.
have you ever tried calling his bluff?
The worst thing you can do with trolls is feed them.
Just walk away. Block him any place he contacts you and don’t give him another thought. Why does he get to live rent free in your head? Evict him.
I mean… fuck both of you is my reaction to this. You’re committing academic fraud and he’s an asshole.
Well, at the end of the day the students I did homework for still need to write their tests and exams on their own. They still earned their grades.
Edit: Ok, ok. I won’t justify it any further. I guess majority here conclude that it was a serious offence. I believe you.
You know how I earned extra money in school? Tutoring. So fuck you. Fraud is fraud.
I tutored as well.
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Eh honestly I’m with you on this homework isn’t an effective learning tool for everyone. Plus it’s not like you’re handing out fake degrees even if you were who cares? what matters is if they can do the job
The good advice is to just move on. The petty advice is to screenshot all of his bullshit where he flaunts the company he works for as well as whatever other unsavory bits he’s posted and report it to his employers HR team. Just an idea, you could also bang his mom
Yeah I see what you mean. I want to be the bigger person and just ignore him.
I note you didn’t completely reject banging his mom.
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