The Arrogance of Mr J
The editor I wrote about in a previous post is an arrogant racist asshole. There is no other way to describe him. J joined the company I am interning in as an intern himself. Luckily for him, the managing editor, D, happened to go on maternity leave. He then took on the position of the managing editor.
He seemed nice and friendly at the interview. But, as if the fact that I did an MA in English with a scholarship from a top British university wasn't good enough for him, he felt the need to confirm with me that my English was good enough for proofreading. A little silly to ask considering that I applied for an editorial internship, and if my English wasn't good I wouldn't have made it that far.
Then, during my first week, he asked me if I knew what penultimate meant. He immediately apologized, saying that he didn't mean to sound 'condescending', which is of course exactly what he intended to do. Also, when I told him how I played around with words in my dissertation when I couldn't find ones that suited my purpose, he had the nerve to tell me that for a 'non-native English speaker' (he is obsessed with this word), I had 'balls' to invent words.
In regards to a book written by a 'non-native English speaker', he told me on my face that he would rather have my colleague L (a sweet girl, an intern like me) proofread it instead of me as it required a more 'hands-on' approach. And he said this after he saw my work and commended my thoroughness. I felt like punching him in the face at that moment. L found it very odd too, and mentioned it to me later. The author of the book wasn't a 'native English speaker', but the editor definitely was. And I think that if proofreading required such a 'hands-on' approach, it highlighted the incompetence of the 'native English' editor rather than reflecting badly on the 'non-native English' author.
J's snide, patronizing commments haven't stopped over there. He keeps saying things like 'Oh so and so's English is quite good for an Italian'. The funny part is that D is back from her maternity leave. And J has been effectively demoted. From being a managing editor, he is now sharing a desk with another intern. And we have to now report to D and get our doubts clarified from her. How hath the mightly fallen!!
D and the managing director M are the sweetest people on earth. In the week that J was away, M, seeing that I was cold, asked me to take the portable heater and keep it beside me. J, when he came back from his holiday, behaved as if I had committed the biggest crime on earth and went on and on about how the heater works on oil and is very energy intensive. If the MD himself asked me to use the heater, why does J have a problem? And J just assumes that L and I will mess up all the time, he is so impossibly arrogant and pompous.
And now ... the icing on the cake. I did an internship another publishing company before this one and I applied for a position with them. S, J's friend and a freelance editor with the company I am interning in right now applied for the same job. He didn't get through the first stage, I did. I requested M for a half day on the day of the interview. J overheard and asked me for the name of the company and then told me that S had applied for the same position. And then he said, 'Oh but you do know the people over there', as if say that that was the only way I, a 'non native English' speaker could have been preferred over S.
I HATE J!!! Either he is really really stupid and daft and doesn't understand the implications of his words, which I don't think is the case. Or he is really insecure about the fact that I, a 'non-native English speaker', can use English as well as or even better than him, and needs to constantly pull me down to establish his abilities in English. Or he is fully aware of what he is doing but has this innate, unshakeable belief in the inherent superiority of native Engish speakers and thinks that there is nothing to be offended about in what he says.
Either way, he is an arrogant racist asshole.
He seemed nice and friendly at the interview. But, as if the fact that I did an MA in English with a scholarship from a top British university wasn't good enough for him, he felt the need to confirm with me that my English was good enough for proofreading. A little silly to ask considering that I applied for an editorial internship, and if my English wasn't good I wouldn't have made it that far.
Then, during my first week, he asked me if I knew what penultimate meant. He immediately apologized, saying that he didn't mean to sound 'condescending', which is of course exactly what he intended to do. Also, when I told him how I played around with words in my dissertation when I couldn't find ones that suited my purpose, he had the nerve to tell me that for a 'non-native English speaker' (he is obsessed with this word), I had 'balls' to invent words.
In regards to a book written by a 'non-native English speaker', he told me on my face that he would rather have my colleague L (a sweet girl, an intern like me) proofread it instead of me as it required a more 'hands-on' approach. And he said this after he saw my work and commended my thoroughness. I felt like punching him in the face at that moment. L found it very odd too, and mentioned it to me later. The author of the book wasn't a 'native English speaker', but the editor definitely was. And I think that if proofreading required such a 'hands-on' approach, it highlighted the incompetence of the 'native English' editor rather than reflecting badly on the 'non-native English' author.
J's snide, patronizing commments haven't stopped over there. He keeps saying things like 'Oh so and so's English is quite good for an Italian'. The funny part is that D is back from her maternity leave. And J has been effectively demoted. From being a managing editor, he is now sharing a desk with another intern. And we have to now report to D and get our doubts clarified from her. How hath the mightly fallen!!
D and the managing director M are the sweetest people on earth. In the week that J was away, M, seeing that I was cold, asked me to take the portable heater and keep it beside me. J, when he came back from his holiday, behaved as if I had committed the biggest crime on earth and went on and on about how the heater works on oil and is very energy intensive. If the MD himself asked me to use the heater, why does J have a problem? And J just assumes that L and I will mess up all the time, he is so impossibly arrogant and pompous.
And now ... the icing on the cake. I did an internship another publishing company before this one and I applied for a position with them. S, J's friend and a freelance editor with the company I am interning in right now applied for the same job. He didn't get through the first stage, I did. I requested M for a half day on the day of the interview. J overheard and asked me for the name of the company and then told me that S had applied for the same position. And then he said, 'Oh but you do know the people over there', as if say that that was the only way I, a 'non native English' speaker could have been preferred over S.
I HATE J!!! Either he is really really stupid and daft and doesn't understand the implications of his words, which I don't think is the case. Or he is really insecure about the fact that I, a 'non-native English speaker', can use English as well as or even better than him, and needs to constantly pull me down to establish his abilities in English. Or he is fully aware of what he is doing but has this innate, unshakeable belief in the inherent superiority of native Engish speakers and thinks that there is nothing to be offended about in what he says.
Either way, he is an arrogant racist asshole.
J is really just an asshole. A colonially hungover one. :P Inventing words and phrases is so cool! And addictive! ;) If HE had ever had the balls to try it, he would probably have been at a better position - you know, brainwise - than he is at now. It's pointless wasting your breath and energy on him.
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