To my new Co-Worker...You...are an idiot.

The BBQ Pit
1

A friend of mine that worked ‘across the wall’ and moved to another department and a replacement has been put in her place. (Funny thing is, the replacement is a friend of the person that was there before.)

Anyhoo, I heard someone ask her what her last name was and she says, Stewart .

So I get my Scottish accent on and say, “Well, that’s a very nice Scottish name.”

Her: (Matter of factly) “It’s British…”
Me: “Um…ok…but it’s actually Scottish.”
Her: “No…it’s British…there’s a difference.”
Me: “Well, they are sorta one in the same but it’s considered a Scottish name.” [‘One in the same’ meaning that what is Scottish is also British.]
Her: “Have you ever told that to a Scotchman[sic]? It’s like comparing Canada to the US!”
Me: (Trying not to get angry) “Ah, actually, I was born in Scotland and Britain CONTAINS Scotland and England and Wales and Northern Ireland, so there is a difference.”
Jeezus!!! How stupid are people! And her tone implied that “I know better because my last name is Scottish”.

‘Fuck you’ ya dumb bitch! Learn your fucking geography! If you are proud of your heritage, the least you could do is LEARN THE BASICS!!!

GAWD DAMN IT!!! This pissed me off, can ya tell!!!

2

Now, if she had mentioned “It’s English” she would have been right.

I remember in elementary school doing a report on England, and I drew and colored the English flag, which IIRC is a red X on a white field.

The teacher marked me wrong because it wasn’t the Union Jack. Fortunately my mother, was was born in England, came in and set her straight.

3

Is she ready for her First Day Performance Review?

4

That probably would have had me laping over the wall…nothing against the English at all, but her ‘matter of fact tone’ is what drove me nuts.

AND she’s a teacher…gotta love that…:rolleyes: Give your mum a hug for me for giving the teacher an education.

5

Generally speaking, I try to avoid educating someone else about their family’s origins. Regardless of whether or not you know better that she, it’s still to be expected that she might find this a tad agressive on your part, even if you didn’t mean to come across that way. At least show her to the coffee machine first.

Tell her about your name but ask her about hers. Just a thought. If you’re going to be working closely with her, no sense in getting into a spat over a trivial item right from the get go. Wasn’t there a saying about picking your battles wisely?

Here’s hoping that you guys can get back on an even keel.

6

I’m willing to be that she’d probably have said “My last name is Scotch.” Then we could all laugh at her even more.

Monty (who does have a Scottish surname)

7

Ummm…I guess I can’t get too mad…I actually read (and not skimmed this time) the link I made.

The Stewarts originated in England.

So now I see what you were saying ivylass about if she had said “English”.

But in my defence, I guess, Stewart has always been attributed to Scotland…ah well.

8

I’m actually glad I didn’t. I would have had my facts mixed up. (The Stewarts originating in Shropshire England and all.)

Ok, the family ‘became Scots’ over time, but I still would have been off.

I’ll eat the humble pir on that one…(But I can still thumb my nose at her for saying ‘British’. :D)

I don’t work directly with her and I kept my cool when talking with her, so she’s none the wiser abuot my not very well thought out rant…

I think I’ll go lay down now…

9

BTW, ivylass: The flag of England is a red cross on a white field.

http://www.fotw.net/flags/gb-eng.html

But I know you got it right back when it happened, of course!

10

Does it really matter at all whether her name is British or Scottish, or Martian or whatever? No, it doesn’t. Unfortunately, you chose to argue with her about it, and now you’ve either made her feel stupid or just mad. Now, after further research, you may not have been as correct as you first thought (though you were about the Scotland / Britan thing).

I used to do the same thing. Take this as a lesson that I’ve learned in the last few years, if it’s not something important, let it go. When you try to fix every single error you see, you wind up with lots of pissed off people.

11

Cheesesteak, I actually went over and talked to her, told her I never new they were originally from England. (Hey…when I’m wrong…I’ll own up.)

She was very pleasent about it and we sat and chatted about the whole thing and had a few laughs.

I feel a little dumber, a lot smarter and much better.

NOTE TO SELF: When running on about 4 hours sleep…take a step back before jumping into things.

12

Stuart, I think, is Scots. Right?

13

It’s “one and the same”. They are one=they are the same.

14

“Stuart” is a Frenchified spelling of “Stewart.”