to be offended by a colleague's view of me as a non-driver?

[onthepier]

Recently when we had very heavy snow, my colleague arrived at work and said she'd had to "come down to my level", walking into work today and taking the bus to the shops as she couldn't get her car out!

Don't get me wrong, I like this woman and we work well together, but it made me feel as if she regards me as a second class citizen because she drives and I don't, I was a bit, !

YANBU although she probably just said it without thinking. I hate this too you would think I was committing some awful crime by not driving.

Cheeky Cow!!!!

Next time you have to take a taxi tell her you have come down to her level and become lazy/polluted the envorinment, if she is walking distance from work then why doesnt she always walk

tbh it just sounds like a turn of phrase to me, something she would say without thinking about.

I don't drive and people think I'm crazy but I've never been insulted like that!

I'd be a bit sensitive about that remark myself, as I don't drive due to medical condition. It does make me feel a bit badly about my abilities at times, even though I know it is best I don't drive.

Thanks for your replies, I know gtamom, it's not very nice is it? I have taken driving lessons but it just came so unnaturally to me, and I was stressed out over it for years! Once I made the decision to stop I felt as though a weight had been lifted, and I'm very happy getting around by taxis, public transport, walking and cycling and so are the kids! Luckily we live central to a brilliant public transport network which does help.

A common misconception that friends/colleagues have had over the years is that I don't drive because I can't afford it! If I'm taking a taxi people have so many times looked at me as if I'm planning a trip to the moon! "You can't do that, how much will it cost you, how ridiculous!" It was only after about the 10th time of telling my friend that you can take an awful lot of taxi trips in a year for the price of a car that she stopped her put-downs!

I have been driving for 20 years but would never be-little someone who doesnt, not everyone wants or needs to drive, its not compulsary, your collegue sounds very snidey OP, ignore her

Why would anybody think using public transport means going down a level? What an odd thing to even think, never mind say. Ignore her - she's ignorant.

I have a friend who comes out with comments like that. She's really nice in every other way and very supportive if I'm going through anything, so I just put it down to tactlessness and let it go. Your colleague probably had no intention of putting you down but is just the kind of person who doesn't think before she says something.

'Come down to your level'? that's such an odd turn of phrase indeed....

If you get on otherwise, put it down as tactless, but ask her what she means if she says it again... I'm sure she didn't mean it as awfully as it came out....

Neither DH or I have a driving licence. We also don't have a car seat for DS because we live in London and use public transport. We don't have a car by choice (I did learn to drive although don't currently have a licence) because we don't need one.

However, we still get the comments and looks.

In the last year there have been 2 occasions where being able to jump in the car would have been useful: when someone bought DH a present that required travelling to the middle of nowhere (it was an extremely awkward trip we would not have chosen to make) and when my waters broke early last year and we had to get to midwife. We took taxies.

No big deal. YANBU. Some people are just rude.

YANBU, what an impolite thing to say.
Some drivers seem to think there must be something wrong with you to not want to own a car, when I was pg I had a work colleague burst into tears when I told her I wasn't planning to get a car when I had ds. She didn't see how I would manage. I manage quite well with both ds and dd still without a car!
Just boast every so often about your tiny carbon footprint !

Why on earth did she burst into tears???

im with her tbh - blardy pedestrians

I can't don't drive (not for want of trying) and I have had all sorts of remarks made about it. I rarely take offence.

That 'down to your level' comment is bitchy, though. Is she generally catty?

YANBU - she's rude

It is a bitchy comment - maybe not intentionally.

Then again, I have read a lot of ill-informed rubbish about non-drivers on here in the past. Recently, too.

Was she joking perhaps?

Just rise above it and congratulate yourself on how green you are.

Thanks for your comments, this colleague is normally fine but she does have a rather negative view of non-drivers! She's never said anything to me before but has shaken her head sometimes when another colleague and I have taken a bus into town from work!

I'll ignore it unless she says it again!

YANBU. I was astonished by the amount of people who asked me if I was going to learn to drive when I announced I was pregnant. Um, no. I've managed to use my legs for nearly 30 years, can't see how having a baby will change that. (although I must admit the last few weeks of pregnancy saw less walking than usual!!)