So this girl who works in my office comes in the other day, and one of the guys is talking about how he'll be in hot water if he doesn't take his girlfriend out for an expensive dinner on Valentine's Day.

She takes a cheap shot at him about how his girlfriend wears the pants in the relationship all year long, not just on V-Day. The other betas in the room roll their eyes and she proceeds to cheap shot each of them in turn with some variation of:

"Your girlfriend wears the pants too, doesn't she?" They all cave and say yes.

She gets around to me, last, and I deflect by ignoring her. She asks again, and I say (playful tone) "I'm being a jerk and pretending I didn't hear you." She laughs and drops the question.

IMO, it was an acceptable deflection, but I think I could have done better. It's a bad scenario, though, right after 7 other betas in the room let her walk all over their nuts.

I would have liked to hit her with something that would not just deflect the question, but make her reluctant to ask me that kind of question again. She's the type that likes to poke, and it probably won't be the last time she does this.

Help me think of something that:

  • A) Deflects the question.
  • B) Pokes fun at her in a way that moderately punishes her for asking.
  • C) Keeps things light and friendly (keep in mind I have to work with her).
  • D) Gets the other betas to laugh at my side of the joke.