Few things sour a dinner faster than guests who confuse arrogance with humor. One father found himself the target of snide remarks from two so-called “real engineers” who mocked his career in agricultural engineering. They even dragged his teenage daughter into the ridicule.
But rather than retaliate with anger, he turned the tables in a way that left them red-faced and silent, proving that sometimes the quietest clapbacks are the loudest. Want to know how this dad handled it? Let’s dig into the details.
A dad, mocked as a “fake” agricultural engineer by snobby friends, paid for their lavish dinner and revealed his high earnings, humbling them
Arrogance between professionals isn’t rare, but mocking someone’s livelihood reveals both ignorance and insecurity. According to a 2023 Pew Research survey, nearly 42% of STEM professionals report feeling their field is undervalued by peers, with agricultural and environmental sciences topping the list.
Agricultural engineering, in particular, plays a massive role in addressing food insecurity. The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) describes the discipline as “applying engineering principles to agricultural systems to ensure sustainable food, water, and energy for a growing global population”.
This includes innovations like vertical farms, precision irrigation, and renewable-resource-based food production, projects that often involve multimillion-dollar contracts and international collaborations.
Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, famously argued: “You can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery.” OP’s work in tower gardens directly fits this vision, providing scalable, sustainable solutions in both developing nations and urban centers.
Psychologists also note that status anxiety often drives these public belittling episodes. Dr. Alain de Botton explains in his book Status Anxiety that people compare themselves to peers in similar fields as a way to measure self-worth. For structural engineers, OP’s presence may have threatened their identity, prompting their mocking behavior.
The CPA’s role sealed the lesson: transparency about finances showed who was truly “fake” and who was quietly successful. More importantly, OP modeled humility for his daughters, turning an uncomfortable dinner into a teachable moment about dignity, respect, and self-confidence.
Here’s what Redditors had to say:
These commenters praised his flex, noting his critical role in food security versus their code-checking jobs
These users made a pun about his field, and Particular_Mud6525 called the engineers douches
One shared a humbling lesson from his dad, an agricultural engineer
This commenter recounted a bar tip to shame a racist bartender, and solvsamorvincet lauded agricultural engineering’s precision.
Some Redditors also shared their similar experiences
The dinner clash between OP and the “real engineers” perfectly illustrates how ignorance and arrogance collide. Agricultural engineering isn’t “fake”, it’s essential, blending science, technology, and sustainability to feed the world.
By paying the bill instead of arguing, OP proved that quiet confidence outweighs loud egos. His daughters saw firsthand that respect, humility, and expertise win out over petty competition.
And for the two engineers who mocked him, the most bitter taste of the evening probably wasn’t the sake, it was realizing they’d been outclassed by the man they dismissed as “fake.”
