I was verbally attacked at work yesterday and i felt really upset

Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
February 21, 2026 11:08am CST
Cause, it was not necessarry at all. I work with the 3rd grade students as their afternoon teacher and we had some snow and rain, they are usually outside so i decided to go to the school gym and it said it was our turn to the schedule. Kids left first and told me someone said it's not our turn. Work environment is really not that good but i still asked some teachers is this an usual thing and they kept telling me, without a lot of interest that they don't go there, that they did ther gym time in the class and so on. Well, i am curious by nature so i went, i think some girls followed me and i said to a male in his 50s who was approaching that i'm sorry and that it's our turn. Not in a bossy way, just stating. What happened next was him charging verbally at me where did i saw it and when i was opening a photo image of the schedule, he acted highly and putting me down like i didn't read it right. When he saw i was right, he didn't apologise, he kept saying to me or himself that the schedule is wrong. I am sorry for following him to the teacher's place on the 2nd floor, we are on the first floor but i said to him, sadly, with an upset tone that he should have trusted me and why he couldn't talk politely or more human. He turned around and said to me what. I saw the schedule finally on the 2nd floor, where it was written it was his turn but that wasn't important at all. He attacked me verbally without any remorse. I went back with him or him walking in front of me and i couldn't control myself, saying he should be ashamed for acting like this and guess what, he called me rude. He attacked me but i was rude. To sum it up, he kept acting the same and one teacher tried to pacify us and i walked away silently. I heard him saying something from afar that i should chill out. Kids from other class told me that he was saying bad things after i left but i just laughed out and assured them i'm good. Kids aren't easy but i think they can recognise a wrong attitude. So, yes and in whatsapp group that gym teacher wrote that schedule should be changed in the teacher's room on the first floor so there are no more misunderstandings between the teachers. Even if it was a misunderstanding, he acted poorly towards me and there was absolutely no need to attack me but i didn't want to write anything in the group. I am aware i am a substitute teacher, hoping this next week only but i shouldn't be a punching bag for some teachers who weren't raised well. These people are the reason that world is a bad place today. Were you ever verbally attacked like this?
8 people like this
9 responses
@DaddyEvil (169961)
• United States
21 Feb
Yes, I have been. I'm sorry that happened. I would have walked away and talked with somebody over his head and asked why the schedule wasn't correct either on the 1st floor or on the 2nd.
4 people like this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
21 Feb
thank you i also wish i walked away, the first thing. as for talking to someone else, the thing is i am not sure who to ask this cause, i am milking some basic info from the teaching staff since day1. in first 5 seconds i tried to distract him by saying we didn't say hello so hello and something other but he kept charhgng at me with words and i didn't expect that and that is how i acted. my vocie was literally shaking. and then i composed myself. i expected this kind of behaviour in the street or by some rude security guards and so on. i guess, everywhere is the same; be it a school or a jungle.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (169961)
• United States
21 Feb
@valherma00 The assistant principal is the next person up the line and then the school principal is above him. Schools, like any business, has a hierarchy so squabbles between teachers, whether they are staff or substitutes, don't occur.
2 people like this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
21 Feb
@DaddyEvil in theory, yes. if you remember my old posts about this place, then you know how it went from the start. i hope karma gets him, that's all i can say.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (114964)
• United States
21 Feb
Yes, I have been, and it is extremely uncalled for. That man was terrible to you, and I am so sorry. Those children know he was in the wrong though.
2 people like this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
21 Feb
i am sensitive by nature but i also think this was too much. i still see his face when i was writing this. a real d-bag who doesn't respect human beings. thank you. i wish i walked away but i believe i or my body was shocked by his behaviour. i tried interrupting him by saying we didn't say hello so hello but he replied rudely to that greeting as well. and i regret my voice shaking but it really made me upset. and in front of that teacher, who was in the middle, he kept acting like a little brat, saying and blaming the schedule and not even realising he is the problem. it is absurd how we teach kids to apologise to each other and when one grown-up bullies another, it is all good. yes, children recognised him and i hope i won't see him the next week.
1 person likes this
@cuttyrish (3078)
• United States
7 Mar
It’s classic gaslighting—he attacks you, you defend yourself, and suddenly you’re the "rude" one who needs to "chill out." It’s a cheap tactic used by people who can’t handle being corrected, especially by someone they perceive as "below" them in the school hierarchy (like a substitute). Fron, my work, i am not verbally attacked but i am reported for various reasons not work (some false).. i got reported for sleeping the whole shift . So i defended my self using my excel sheet and chrome with history of edits and eods. You cant have work results, if you are sleeping (actual work reports). With responses to slack. How can i respond to tickets if i am sleeping?
1 person likes this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
10 Mar
yes, gaslighting is a perfect word, you are right and yes, being a substitute is not great, i realised it in a hard way. how pathetic it is people reporting you for something you didn't do. so many toxic people out there, i feel. really sorry.
@cuttyrish (3078)
• United States
6h
@valherma00 thanks, i still see that person viewing my linkedin, trying to know my new job i guess
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
12h
@cuttyrish that's some good karma. i am glad this happened to those who are seeking promotions in immoral ways you were brave and deserve all the best in the world
@LadyDuck (495460)
• Italy
22 Feb
I am very sorry this happened to you. I am glad that I have never been attacked like that.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (495460)
• Italy
23 Feb
@valherma00 - It's horrible to be attacked on your work place.
1 person likes this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
1 Mar
@LadyDuck the teacher which shares some classes with me heard about this and said she will talk to him (i feel only cause he mentioned her not doing her job or something) and i saw how she approached him and stayed sitting with him on a bench in a school playground for 30 minutes and when she saw me, i said hi to her, she said hi back and i knew nothing changed. they have each other's back and that is fine just, a little warning about him would have been great. i saw him 3 times this week in a school playground and interesting thing is he didn't need his gym this week. my last day at work was on friday and i wish him and all these people the taste of their own medicine
1 person likes this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
22 Feb
Thank you. I wish this for noone.
1 person likes this
@just4him (322453)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
25 Feb
I'm sorry you were verbally attacked by a fellow teacher. Yes, I have been. Many times.
1 person likes this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
1 Mar
one teacher supported me but i saw she started talking to him again and other teacher did the same thing like, she will talk to him and her and i share some classes but yeah. i get it, they knew him longer than me but i would have appreciated if they warned me about him and not later telling me he has a temper or something when it already happened. thank you. i saw him in our school playground this week but i survived, stayed away from him and such. i'm sorry you were attacked too. if people were just more civil...
@thelme55 (78512)
• Germany
21 Feb
Sorry about what you have experienced. He was rude not you.
1 person likes this
@thelme55 (78512)
• Germany
21 Feb
@valherma00 I hope you won’t see him again. Maybe just ignore him when you see him again. I ignore nasty people.
1 person likes this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
21 Feb
thank you. he was a nasty bully. when you stood up to him, then his ego gets hurt and he did enough and for what, like he owns the gym; i really wish no good to people like him. just, i wish my voice wasn't shaking and i wish i walked away the first second he started acting rudely but i guess i was shocked and i really wanted for kids to go to the gym. not sure when was the last time i experienced my voice shaking like that. i hope i won't see him next week but destiny always has some cruel ways.
1 person likes this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
21 Feb
@thelme55 i will abosulutely ignore him but i hope i could have a peaceful week without him. i mean, the workplace in general is not that good and i can't wait for my contract to end. i think it will be the next week and i hope someone will notify me when my last day at work will be or not cause, there was drama from the start, sadly. all in all, thank you.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (374344)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 Feb
I'm sorry this man wasn't more polite. It should be possible to sort things out without resorting to verbal abuse.
1 person likes this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
22 Feb
Thank you. I agree with you. He behaved like a gladiator and what for.
1 person likes this
• United States
22 Feb
He was very rude to you and should have apologized.
1 person likes this
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
22 Feb
It is strange how we teach children to apologize to each other while as adults we don't get an apology and we are acting backwards. Thank you.
@Dreamerby (9977)
• Calcutta, India
27 Feb
I feel stagnant at my workplace. Sorry this happened to you