The Office Drama I Inadvertently Started

Anonymous Coy Imp #657 · General

So here's the thing. I work from home as a freelance graphic designer and have a small office space right at my dining room table, which is pretty much my life now. I've been doing this for three years since I left my previous job, and it's been mostly smooth sailing. Until last month when I decided to take on a new client who works in a big office building downtown. It was exciting because they were one of the first companies to fully return to in-office work post-pandemic, which felt like a breath of fresh air after so many clients still working remotely. The first few weeks went great. We Skyped daily and everything was on schedule. But then I started receiving some weird emails from their office manager. She'd ask me things like why my lunch breaks are always at noon or if I'm checking my email in the evenings, which seemed a bit intrusive since we're talking about remote work here. I decided to take it all in stride and not let her get under my skin. Until last week when they wanted some major revisions done after our deadline had passed. The office manager emailed me back with a tone that was just plain rude. She said the revisions needed to be done 'yesterday' and made fun of me for being out of touch because I couldn't work late hours like everyone else in her office. I know she's trying to get me riled up, but honestly, it just feels really demoralizing. This client was a fresh start after some tough months last year, and now they're treating me like a teenager asking for permission for lunch breaks. I'm tempted to send them a lengthy email detailing every single thing wrong with their office culture and how it's not conducive to remote workers or freelancers who value balance. But then again, I don't want to be the asshole who takes a job but can't deliver because they're too sensitive about being micromanaged. I'm just venting here, trying to figure out if I've got the right to feel frustrated by this situation or if I need to cut my losses and find another client. Either way, I guess I'll continue doing what I do best from my cozy little corner of the world.