40-Year-Old Bully

At my job, I have no peers. I could probably go all day without saying one word. Thank goodness I have two cats and a dog that love to hear me talk in the morning before I set off for work.

There are two women at my job that are from an Eastern European country and we have vastly different beliefs. The rest of the people I work with are guys, and while they are nice enough (save for one), I can't really go to them and ask them their opinion on which purse I should buy to go with my lifestyle.

Unfortunately, the closest thing I have to a peer, is a 40-year-old bully named Ike*. He is the closest to my age and is a manager like myself. But, he is not really a peer because he is a bully, and I can't have a bully as a peer.

Here are a few examples of a day with Ike: (due to my limited memory, these are relatively recent experiences with Ike and I could probably write a book if I had a better memory)

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  Ike leaves the office several times a day for a cigarette break. On a recent break (that takes him past my parking spot), Ike returns to the office, stops at my door and says "nice parking job" (italics will from here on out mean: spoken in a snarky voice) and then walks away. So, I just sat there like, "wow! Hello to you too, Ike." I'm just doing my job, and those are the pleasantries that are exchanged here. Nice.
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  Ike and I have polar opposite political views. Trying to have a meaningful debate or exchange of ideas with him is nearly impossible. He's a bully, and just can't listen to an opposing viewpoint. He will try to force feed his opinions on you. It's painful (and has left me in tears a number of times). After the recent election, Ike came into my office and was "enraged and disgusted" by the lack of voter turnout. I had voted at lunchtime that day. When I asked Ike if he had voted, he said 'no'. Poor Ike, "enraged and disgusted" for not exercising his right to vote. (for YEARS as I come to find out)
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  Recently, I had to ask Ike a question, so I ventured into his office, and before I could get any words out of my mouth, he looks at my outfit, and says "that's WAY too much gray". In my mind, I thought, "well, Ike, it's a good thing I don't value your opinion."

But after reflecting on my interaction with Ike, I decided, by George, he was right! My outfit consisted of entirely too much gray. Hence, I purchased the red patent leather boots you see below.

I guess I do value Ike's fashion opinion after all.

*names have been changed to protect the guilty