Boss says odd things around me

[Tapasita]

My boss is a genuinely nice guy, he’s a great manager & we all feel very supported by him. I am on friendly terms with him and he cares about his team and our collective well-being. He can take a joke, and we can all have a good laugh with him. He’s a very down to earth sort of person actually and likes honesty and transparency. All good.

But…..& it’s a big but as I can’t work it out…….I’ve noticed right from
the get go that he repeats certain strange things to me almost in passing conversation and they seem so oddly out of place. He’ll always mention his wife, nearly always, whenever we’re talking - it’s bizarre and has no bearing on the conversation at hand. He recently told me I’m not his type (we were joking around and he just dropped it in there.) He makes negative comments about my choices if we go out for a lunch or get together as a team at the pub - “no food just drinking” was one comment (I only had a Corona - just one.) He observed that it was my fault once when I ordered the wrong dish (I’m a vegetarian but misplaced my order & had to send it back as it had meat in it.) He had a strop when I didn’t respond immediately to his offer of a one to one support session & I was told my my line manager to get back to him asap.

I’m actually finding it a bit hard to manage him, and his strange behaviour. I’ve booked a Christmas do for the team this year and he’s like a puppy dog over it, ridiculously excited, sending everyone pictures of drinks and so forth. Im a bit drained …… what’s going on and what to do??

I work in a male dominated industry and the men who mentioned their wife or partner a lot or where it doesn't fit in with the flow of the conversation are:

1. The ones that think every woman finds them attractive.
2. The ones that genuinely can't believe they found a wife/partner

Most only mention their wife when it makes sense to.

Anyone who gets that excited about an office Christmas party sounds a little odd!

It may not be but have witnessed the other side of this a few times in different work places, privy to the behind the scenes behavior and talk between guys.

As PP mentions, the ones who are genuine mention their wives at the right times and don't, in my experience, make others feel awkward or strive for attention.

The others however, that continuously mentioned their wives out of place were disingenuous. They either went full in flirting which was obvious and worked on some and was clear to all, a blatant cheat. The others would be critical and harsh, confuse them by swapping blunt to overly nice one day to the next, always mentioning their partners and lives. Similar to emotional abuse I suppose, do they like me or don't they. Some then fell into the trap from the bouts of kindness and became attracted themselves, eventually getting used.

That's my observation of coming across those types and listening to them bragging to others about it, making women feel bad, good and jealous of their wives.

Those that have a crush on their boss and know it's not right, who are also married themselves, I would keep away. sometimes that attraction is by design, subtle and it only wrecks lives. Either way they won't care, they are higher and will move onto the next, while you're left in an awkward and potentially humiliating position or worse case, not favoured career wise as a result.