Last night a weird friend of us, a man, called to talk (chat). My husband was sleeping so I talked to the man, and after he kept me on the phone for three hours (for his need to talk) he and I mentioned his son, and I said I thought about asking the son whether he knows how to repair an electrical problem I have which is not a major problem since I am looking for someone who can do the work at an inexpensive cost.

This person has history of offending people by his words. He has paranoid schisofrania problem but was able to hold a full time job and just recently retired. He and I talked back and forth, and he said to me, "I will not help you find anyone." I was surprised at first as to why. We continued the subject, and the conclusion was he was telling me I am a con and user who is looking for free labor. I was very offended but tried to keep my cool, and I told him he misunderstood about what kind of person I am and that I intend to pay the repair person a reasonable price that costs less than if I were to call an elecrical repair company.

He didn't use the words con and user but that was what he meant. He has a habit of throwing insults at people, and he offended me many times before. I felt I should have known he could do that last night and should not have let him use me as a free therapist for three hours just so that he could turn around and hurt me. I know he didn't intend to hurt me and is just a very strange charactor who often offends others with his mean words (meaning he couldn't help himself). This time I got assertive and told him (politely) that he is a selfish person (charactor) who does not trouble anyone and does not want anyone to trouble him. I didn't use the word selfish but what I said to him means he is selfish, and I am not, which is the difference between him and me.

He freaked out and started yelling at me telling me, "Don't you talk about the difference between you and me. I DON'T CARE!" I was terrified by his tone of voice and his upsetness and told him I didn't mean to say I am better than him in our differences (meaning me being kind and generous VS him being selfish and uncaring does not mean I am better than him as a human being). He calmed down and continued talking for a long time (using me as his free therapist) until my husband woke up, and I gave him the phone. My point is no-one should say to a friend "I refuse to help you find a repair man because you are a con and user."

I talked to my husband and dauther about it, and they agree that this man should not have said what he said to me (very inappropiate).

We know him since 1988 but didn't see him much during the past 14 years. His wife just passed away less than a year ago. I used to hang out with her but not during the past 14 years since they both were busy with the grandchildren, and we are in poor health and need a lot of rest. We know he is very strange and can get very offensive if we give him enough time to talk. I am so upset that I am ready to message his daughter and ask her to tell him he is no longer welcome to phone us (we never initiated phone conversations with him) but my daughter told me it will look very bad if I do that to a man who just lost his wife. I am a passive aggresive person and avoid conflicts.

The three of us agree that it will be okay if my husband and I will ignore his phone call when he calls again next time. He didn't call often. What upsets me is I feel I should have known better not to have any conversations with him knowing he has that weird mean charactor. It seemed that what set him off last night was the word "charactor." He got in arguments with people online before, and they verbally attacked him. I just want to vent and thank everyone for reading it. Any comment is welcome. I hope you all have a good day today.