And his criticisms were over really small, stupid things that he wrote off as innocent jabs at humor...He was meeting my friend for the first time and he had to make fun of me because I did not include enough cups in the picnic basket I had worked hard to prepare. It went beyond a “hey is that enough cups” it was more like a “seriously. What? are we all gonna share a cup that you pass around ?! Haha. Get more cups. What are you thinking. Why would you just pack these?
So he would poke fun at you for a perceived mistake or shortcoming. This kind of stuff is just veiled criticism and disrespect. Playful banter is great, even some occasional gentle pokes, but this guy sounds like he did not know where the line was and that is a problem, whether in front of a group or just the two of you.
My response probably would have been "OMG! We don't have enough cups? What are we going to do? We can't just drink straight of the cans and bottles, that's illegal! I guess we're just going to have to cancel the picnic. What a disaster - not enough CUPS!" All with a smile.
Originally Posted by JujuB
The jabs were not funny. There was anger and Impatience behind each comment. That’s what upset me. He was losing his temper with me over things that were really minuscule and done in a way to take the discomfort off of him and on to me. That’s what I think anyway. But it got to the point where I was thinking, “I’m not gonna invite him cause parking can be tough at that place and if I miss a parking spot and have to drive around he’s gonna start harassing me”
LOL I feel you on the driving thing. My W is the worst at that, it always lead to her saying "do you need me to drive?" I started responding with "no, but I need you to find the passenger seat mute button" or "where is that passenger seat eject button again?" and that would shut her up until the next thing came up.
Even if you have a snappy comeback every time, it just gets exhausting after awhile because some people cannot control their compulsion to jab and criticize, so it never ends. It just chips away at you. And I love to banter, but it's just so obvious to me where the line is with everyone - love interest has a way different line then a lot of my guy friends.
