I have always hated being given unsolicited advice. If I ask for your opinion, I will welcome what you have to say. But if I haven’t opened up the floor for others to share feedback, I’m probably not interested. Especially if you want to be extremely patronizing!
One curious Reddit user asked others to share the most condescending advice they’ve ever received, and people did not disappoint. From strangers making assumptions about anything from a person’s income to their physical strength, we’ve gathered the most infuriating stories below. Keep reading to also find a conversation with Modern Therapy’s Gabriela Ortiz, LPC, and be sure to upvote the condescending tips that would make you roll your eyes!
People Dealt With The Most Condescending Advice: 1.
My mom runs into this all the time. No specific examples exactly, but people will talk down to her or treat her badly because all they see is a jobless single mom on disability. What they don’t know is she got her undergraduate summa cum laude, and then her MALS from Dartmouth College while she was pregnant with me. This was while being married to a toxic, abusive jerk and struggling with physical and mental health issues. She is my hero and I’m very proud of her.
People Dealt With The Most Condescending Advice: 2.
I’m a film producer. I look 20yo but I’m significantly older and more experienced than I look. I’m also a woman which can get you mixed results on the best of days.
On set, I just type away at my laptop and do menial work just to make sure all the holes are plugged up and no one is s******g the bed. I guess one camera assist saw this and thought I was a PA. His response was to flash me a handbook for the fancy camera we were using and tell me to “read up, so you’ll actually learn something”. I asked him what the f**k he thought I was doing, asked his name, and made it clear that I paid his bills.
People Dealt With The Most Condescending Advice: 3.
Gig night, still a few bands to go before we go on stage. I’m at the bar checking people out and having beers, because stuff’s boring. Guy comes up to me, sees my band shirt, doesn’t recognize me (which is totally OK, I like it better that way), proceeds to nag my ears of about our music, trying real hard to go into technical musicalities, which again, is OK, you do you.
Up until the point where he slams one of my songs, saying he doesn’t get why the f**k it’s in F# minor. I tell him he must be mistaken, because the song is very much in A minor. Douche says “Um, you obviously don’t have the necessary musical capabilities to recognize the correct tonality when you hear it. Come back when you’ve actually taken some music lessons.” “Condescending behaviors can be a defense mechanism used by individuals who have insecurities, are afraid to show vulnerability, or want to assert superiority (due to underlying feelings of inferiority),” Gabriela shared. “Individuals with condescending behaviors might use this as a method to draw attention away from their own insecurities or gain a sense of control in social interactions.”
People Dealt With The Most Condescending Advice: 4.
I chose to live with my parents even after I finished my education and had the means to move out on my own because my mother was always ill and needed the help. An acquaintance mentioned to me one time at a party in front of everyone that she earns 65,000 a year which is why she’s able to live on her own and I should aim for a salary like that so I could “finally be self-sufficient” – I smiled at her.
