Is OTHER wrong in the post ? POST : First, I apologize for how long this will be. 



So, I work in the auto repossession industry in a spotter car. I work day shift and the co-worker in this story works nights. We share a vehicle and both engage in common sense ways to help the other: make sure the tank is full at the end of our shift, report any damage or maintenance needs, etc. 



Since he’s on night shift, he has a powerful flashlight that he uses to spot cars in the dark. It’s totally necessary for him, I admit. He leaves his flashlight in the car 24/7 which doesn’t bother me at all. It’s usually dark toward the end of my shift so I use it occasionally as well. Well, at the beginning of my shift yesterday, we crossed paths as he was clocking out. He mentioned that the power steering wasn’t working so I’d need to change the PS fluid and see if that helps. I figured if I can’t get it to work, I’ll inform my boss as is protocol and we can arrange to have it fixed. 



Turns out, the car’s power steering is electric, not fluid-based so changing the fluid was obviously not an option. We have a spare car to use so I informed my boss of the issue, grabbed my essentials (AUX cord, phone mount, chargers, etc.), got in the spare car, and started working. My boss called me a bit later to tell me they were picking up the broken down car that day. Cool. 

Fast forward to this morning. I have about a 45 minute commute to work, and he called me when I was about halfway through to ask if I’d seen his flashlight. I told him that the last I saw it, it was in the broken car. He asked why I didn’t grab it for him and I told him that, firstly, I didn’t know the car would be being transported for maintenance that day and, secondly, that it isn’t my property to do with what I wish. As far as I knew it’d been more problematic to move it from where he last saw it. My argument was also that he knew the car might need maintenance and thus may be likely to be out of town at our company’s garage for a few days, so really he shouldn’t expect me to have grabbed it if he hadn’t thought to do so either. 



He threw a tantrum and said “Shit like this is why you paid all that money for a college degree and you’re repoing cars. You don’t fucking think things through.”



I told him that I wasn’t going to stay on the phone to be verbally abused by him and that if he was searching for an apology he wasn’t going to get one. I could’ve been nicer, but I found the comment about my education and how I make a living to be incredibly insulting and unnecessary. A real low-blow.



This coworker is about 15 years older than me, if not more, so I’m pretty used to him thinking he knows everything and that he could never learn anything from me (despite me having better numbers than him and having done the job longer), strictly due to my age. I’m 27. I get that I’m young, but I’m also not 18. I don’t appreciate being patronized or looked down upon because I’m younger than him.



Anyway, he filed a complaint against me with the company for “negligently misplacing his property”. When my boss called to discuss his complaint, I laid out the situation as it actually happened and my boss told me I’m in good shape and not to worry. He agreed that it’s crazy to label my having not moved something as “misplacing” it. 



Frustrated that I didn’t get disciplined, he called me again to demand I pay for his flashlight because he doesn’t believe he’ll get it back (which is based on nothing, our company mechanics are not going to steal his flashlight). This is a $40 flashlight and, while I could certainly afford to give him $40, fuck that. He told me he hopes I get fired and learn a lesson from what I’ve done. “Hopefully one day you’ll actually grow up.”



I told him to go fuck himself and not to speak to me when I see him.



So, am I the asshole here?



