I didn't really know how to word the title but I'm wondering if anyone can explain this behaviour. I have a work colleague who most of the time is very direct in his communication with me, to the point of being blunt. He very rarely uses words like: please, thank you, sorry, could you etc. I don't often get to see him interacting with others but I have a feeling that he isn't like this with everyone.
Anyway, I just accepted that this was how he was and got on with things. Then suddenly in January, he was like a changed person, very polite and considerate. But after a few weeks he went back to the bluntness. Now today, after a week of blunt messages, we usually communicate by email at the moment, out of the blue, he sent me a request for something which was really polite.
I know that this isn't the biggest problem in the world but actually it's affecting my self-esteem because I feel like he's making a choice to be blunt with me as it's not like he doesn't know how to be nice.