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The original was posted on /r/AmItheAsshole by /u/throwaway82874372718 on 2023-08-04 05:40:42.
For background, I (29F) am a cis woman and I have worked with the same company for just over four years. About two months ago, I was moved to a new building with all new coworkers, including Barb (not her real name). She is very outward with her opinions and is constantly complaining about the latest leftist scheme, but more specifically, the “trans liberal agenda”. As we both work later shifts, I often fall victim to these rants.
Now, it should be known that Barb is a huge gossip. In just the small amount of time I’ve been there, I’ve overheard her trash-talking the majority of our coworkers, myself included. Other than telling her off for in-office socializing, HR hasn’t done much of anything about it.
Now for what happened.
It started in the bathroom where I’d been on the phone with my mother. Near the end of the call, she called me by a childhood nickname which I’d never been a fan of, so I obviously corrected her. I basically said something like “It’s (Name). No, it isn’t ‘what I prefer’, it’s literally just my name”. I then heard Barb clear her throat from inside a stall and no matter how small the evidence, I immediately knew what she had thought.
Even though she hadn’t said anything after that (though I’m sure she told someone and I just wasn’t around to hear it), I decided it would be funny to drive it further.
I made it a point to “accidentally” show Barb a childhood picture of my brother, who -while not identical- was very similar to me back in the day. I started speaking in a deep voice whenever I “thought nobody was around”. At one point, with her watching, I signed a document with an extremely masculine one, and proceeded to scratch it out before going to print off a new copy.
I knew I had her when she started a typical “We Can Always Tell” rant to the whole office while staring for my reaction. She even announced how uncomfortable she was with me using the women’s bathroom.
Finally, when I had a coworker inform me that Barb had been referring to me as a man and had “outted me” to everyone, I acted like I had no idea where the assumption had come from. I showed them pictures of me as a kid, like when I did cheer in middle school, or had a princess-themed birthday at 9. All in all, I pretended to be completely clueless, and it made Barb out to be an absolute fool. I even referenced her “We can always tell” speech back at her when she threw a fit about it all.
Honestly, I don’t care at all about Barb’s feelings- but morally, AITA for pretending to be trans?