I Feel Uncomfortable and Mocked by a Colleague
I genuinely don’t know how to respond when my coworker makes hurtful jokes about me in front of other colleagues. He often makes crude or sexual jokes (not about me) because he knows they make me uncomfortable — he’s even admitted that he can tell I’m uncomfortable — and I get so awkward in those moments that I freeze and don’t know how to react.
last week, in front of a group of coworkers, he read out the “difference” between a geek, a nerd, and a dork. When he got to “dork,” he described it as someone who is socially awkward and not necessarily intelligent, and then said he thought that described me. No one said anything and they just laughed uncomfortably.
That honestly hurt my feelings. I really do try my best to be friendly and social, but moments like that make me feel like people just don’t like me.
I didn’t know how to respond at the time, and afterward I kept wondering what I should have said or done. I just don't know what to do around him in general, he makes me so insecure.