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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Is it me? I don't think it's me!

58 replies

dontthinkitsme · 05/02/2021 10:56

NC so this isn't linked to my other posts. Hope this isn't too long!

I've been talking to a guy from OLD for a while. We haven't met yet as the weather has been dreadful. We have a low key, light 'text relationship' (for want of a better term). Sending memes, dry wit, 'banter' (hate that word), it's not exactly deep meaningful conversation. Basically just keeping it light until we see if we like each other in person.

Our sense of humour has been pretty matched so far, no lead balloons, but something happened last night which has actually made me quite angry. Tell me honestly if it's me!

My DM is having some problems with her neighbour. I won't go into details but the neighbour is horrible to DM but seems to like me. After the latest event I've been rage fantasising about passively aggressively calling the neighbour out and making her squirm Grin Something that MN would be proud of, friendly hi how are you conversation, then BAM 'oh, I'm surprised you haven't dropped a note in the door about the damage you did to xyz the other day and tried to cover up' with an innocent smile Wink

This is the sort of thing he and I would laugh about, so I told him. I made it very very clear I wouldn't actually do this. At the end of the day it's not my house and not my business. I did start the message with 'quick! hold me back! stop me doing something stupid!' but all in jest and as I say, reiterated at the end that it was all fantasy.

He told me not to 'cause a scene' Hmm When I asked what he meant he said it's not the 'done thing'. Again I asked for clarification in case I jumped to the wrong conclusion, but he went into waffle about how he was brought up to never cause a scene in public and be polite above all else.

I felt this was a dig, like somehow he thought he was better than me? 1) a friendly (if PA) conversation between two neighbours is hardly causing a 'scene'. I'm hardly throwing a tantrum in the middle of a crowded room. 2) I've never caused a 'scene' in my life and never indicated that's the sort of person I am, and 3) IT WAS A FUCKING FANTASY

I told him that there are many ways to be both assertive and polite. It doesn't have to be a drama, a TOWIE style aggressive tantrum, that behaviour is not my style and loses the moral high ground, but that doesn't mean I will accept people acting like shits.

Sadly I've come to the conclusion that was he actually meant was not 'don't cause a scene', it was women 'don't make a fuss'.

I asked him if he meant that I should just let people walk all over me (and my DM in this scenario). Does this apply to every situation without exception? What about if a stranger grabbed my arse? Am I supposed to smile sweetly and even thank him? At that he turned it on me, ignored that example, and shut down the conversation with 'I don't know what's got into you tonight but have a good evening'.

As an aside, he has made some awful 'jokes' about killing cats. Bear traps in his garden for the neighbours cat that shits in his, giving mine to the Chinese takeaway for bringing in a mouse (horribly racist!!), and saying if I ever brought a kitten home (to our imaginary house together) he would wait until I wasn't looking and steal it and drown it.

I'm sure he would say all of these were 'jokes'. But why does my joke mean that my manners, class and the way I was brought up are called into question? He would and has denied that this is about him thinking that women should behave a certain way but essentially he thinks he can do and say what he likes but somehow is entitled to police my (imaginary) behaviour, with subtle put downs that he thinks he's been brought up better than me, is better than me. FWIW I was brought up very well, private school, manners are first and foremost.

I can't even be arsed with the conversation to try and get him to see he was wrong. I doubt he'd listen and tbh we've never even met, I just can't be arsed discussing it and listening him either pretend I misinterpreted or missed a joke, or defend himself.

Am I overreacting? I'm going to have to just ghost him aren't I?

OP posts:
dontthinkitsme · 05/02/2021 14:43

@tatutata oh it's not parking, it's repeated (quite substantial) damage to property Grin exactly the sort of thing that MN would love and tell me (if it was my house of course) to go round there all guns blazing. But I won't, and I wouldn't, and in any case, imagining putting her on the spot and making her feel awkward is in no way 'making a scene', which is the part I took issue with.

OP posts:
AwaAnBileYerHeid · 05/02/2021 14:48

@dontthinkitsme

"I think I've made it very clear that all of our conversation has been light and jokey, not moaning about stuff of consequence or things that annoy us. The basis of me telling him this was that it was an imaginary scenario, without going into detail about how awful neighbour is."

Yes...and according to my friend, she isn't an angry person, she doesn't ever have a problem with anyone and if anyone confronts her about her rudeness, she genuinely cannot see any issue with how she speaks to people. In her mind, she is happy go lucky and quite a chilled person.

Besides I wasn't solely referring to the one conversation that you described. I thought I'd made that very clear. I asked if there was perhaps a pattern of behaviour or of conversations where you are always 'jokingly' going on about people or things pissing you off and being annoyed in general, albeit in a 'jokey' manner. You asked if you were being unreasonable. I asked a question to get more information to ascertain if you were or not.

tatutata · 05/02/2021 14:53

@dontthinkitsme sorry I just meant my own example of neighbour issues. Either way it's dicky of him. Men can be super weird about aggro though. I was always a bit direct when younger, and one boyfriend explained to me that his problem with that was that if I get arsy, and there's a fight, he's the one who gets beaten up by the other guy. Many men are very aware that they're far more likely to be on the receiving end of stranger violence - not applicable to this specific dispute, but could be the origin of his weirdness. That is the only charitable explanation I can think of at any rate!!

MintyMabel · 05/02/2021 14:56

Bear traps in his garden for the neighbours cat that shits in his, giving mine to the Chinese takeaway for bringing in a mouse

My husband jokes about hurting the cats that dig up and shit in our garden, he would never actually dream of doing so or hurting any animal. It is also a standing joke about one particular indian takeaway in our area serving cat because about 15 years ago they were found to have a dead cat in their cold store. There was a similar story about a hotel in the area I grew up in about 30 years ago. It isn't necessarily racist in every context.

I'd be very concerned about the "not make a scene" stuff. I couldn't be with someone who just sat an whinged about how crap their meal was then paid for it rather than calling a manager and asking for another.

dontthinkitsme · 05/02/2021 14:57

@AwaAnBileYerHeid no, this is the first time, genuinely. I've never met the guy, I'm not one to start moaning about a bad day at work or how someone has pissed me off with a total stranger. If this were my own neighbour (I don't live here, came to stay shortly before lockdown) then I wouldn't bother mentioning it at all, it's too personal. As it is, I'm one step removed and was speaking as a third party onlooker.

OP posts:
Picklypickles · 05/02/2021 15:08

Well, quite apart from anything else you just can't trust people who don't like cats, they have no souls.

CSIblonde · 05/02/2021 15:13

So don't cause a scene but it's ok to drown or cook cats. Jokes aren't always jokes. Very,very often they're a way to legitimise terrible beliefs, values or behaviour. The cat comments alone would be a massive indicator to me. Then the don't make a scene in top.... I would block him on everything .

Summerdayshaze · 05/02/2021 15:17

Bin him and block him. If someone made jokes about killing my pets I’d get rid. You don’t even know him.

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