Woman Asks Older Co-Worker to Stop Calling Her ‘Condescending’ Nickname, but He Insists She’s Just Too ‘Sensitive’

Nicknames in the workplace can easily cross a line as co-workers push the boundaries between personal relationships and professionalism.

On Reddit, one 32-year-old woman shared that she recently joined a new team where the average age is from the “mid-40s to the late 50s.” While she is easily the youngest on her team, she doesn’t mind it.

However, she is not a fan of the nickname given to her by her 58-year-old colleague: kiddo.

“At first it was in passing, which was annoying but tolerable,” she wrote.

“But then he said things like: ‘Don’t worry, kiddo, we’ll handle the complicated parts.’ ‘Kiddo, can you grab the notes from earlier?’ ‘It’s cute watching you learn, kiddo.’ He only does this to me. Never to the younger men on the team,” she added.

What’s worse is that the name isn’t just reserved for around the workplace. Recently, the team had a meeting with clients, and the man interrupted her pitch, saying, “Let me explain, kiddo’s still catching up.”

While “everyone laughed,” the poster “wanted to crawl out of my skin.”

“After the meeting, I pulled him aside and politely said I’d prefer he used my name, because the nickname felt condescending. He immediately got defensive and said, ‘Wow. Sensitive much? It’s an affectionate term. Learn to take a joke,'” she recalled.

He then told a different colleague that she was “one of those easily-offended types,” leaving her to feel like the “uptight new girl.”

“Am I overreacting for thinking this nickname is disrespectful?” she asked the Reddit community.

People in the comments defended the woman, assuring her that her co-worker’s behavior was unacceptable.

“That’s extremely unprofessional and contributing to a toxic workplace, especially if it makes you feel uncomfortable and you’ve asked him to stop. Report,” one person wrote.

“He’s being misogynist and unprofessional,” another person shared.

A third person had a clever suggestion, writing, “I’d start calling him pop-pop or grandpa. When he gets upset be like, ‘awww is it past your bed time?'”

“In all seriousness, don’t do this. Report to HR. Get it on record,” they continued. “Because this will hurt your prospects and potential future at the company if this behavior sticks and people, even subconsciously, start viewing you as a ‘kid’.”