Was this person being disrespectful to me?

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I just started a new job a little over a week ago. There’s a manager (let’s call him Bob) who seems a bit condescending of others. I first noticed this on my first day of work. I was attending a meeting with this Bob and another individual (let’s call him Sam) who works for Bob along with about 8 other people.

So, Sam had recently resigned from the company and was sharing information (with the people in the meeting room) on his next to last day. As Sam began to describe what he had been working on, Bob asked him to “hurry it up”, because he was apparently not going fast enough. Then, Sam began to go through his material a bit faster. A minute or so later, Bob asked Sam to slow down. Sam had had enough and exploded: “Do you want me to speed up or slow down? Why can’t I do this the way I want? Well, now everyone knows why I am leaving this company. I cannot work in this type of environment”. It was a bit of an awkward moment.

So, earlier this week, I was in another meeting with Bob and another guy. I had mentioned that I understood why the latest product release was behind schedule, because the product was so complex. Bob immediately replied, “This product is not complex at all. It’s far less complex than other products I have worked on”.

So, the next day, I was in yet another meeting with Bob and several other individuals. At one point, he made a statement about some aspect of the product I was unfamiliar with. Being new, I had no idea what he was talking about, so I asked him a question to clarify his statement. For one reason or another (I forgot why), my question never got answered and the conversation floated to some other topic. A bit later, Bob made another comment about the same thing I was unfamiliar with. Again, I asked a question. This time, he answered. And, then I responded, “Oh, so that means X”. I now understood.

Immediately afterwards, Bob touched his nose with the tip of his finger.

I know, based upon past experience, that this means something like, “you’re spot on the nose”. But, he did this in front of other people. Now, I have no idea if anyone noticed. Though, I am curious if he was making fun of me (for initially not understanding what he was talking about). Or whether this was simply a gesture to indicate, “I am glad you now understand”. Any ideas?

It could mean the detail you asked about is a secret. This could explain why your question was initially overlooked.

I read that in India, he could have been offering you a prostitute.

I don't see any disrespect.....but this guy seems like he might be a difficult person to deal with.

He seems kinda arrogant. Like he thinks he is better than people lower rank than him.

I'm not sure if he was disrespecting you but I wouldn't like that attitude either.

I think touching the nose thing might be disbelief as in they expect you to know what they do and when you repeat back to clarify they might think 'of course stupid'. Though your not stupid for doing that really. It's good to fully understand.

Also it may mean they are trying to hide their true intentions.

I'm not sure what his gesture means, but I think you're asking the wrong question. I'm not sure if this 'Bob' is being disrespectful towards you, but I do think he happens to be a poor manager. He doesn't put people at ease and other people have left his work because of his behavior. He doesn't appear to relate to different people well, which is an essential tool of a good manager. I'm not how you should be dealing with him, but I would taking a very cautious approach if you value your job.

Well, I'm going to stick up for the boss. You have been brought in to help improve his team. He probably, as team leader, feels vulnerable. Obviously there was some conflict with Sam, but you don't know the details of it, so I would put it aside unless more information becomes available. The incident would have been awkward for him too (Bob.)
The touching the nose thing could be a nervous tick. I'm pretty sure that it means something in mafia parlance. Like a secret has been shared or something.
I wouldn't make any decisions with only this data.

Rocket he definitely meant, "Exactly. Correct. You hit it on the nose." Without being there it's impossible to know his subtext however. There's every chance he was being disrespectful. If he didn't say anything else at the time, i.e. just the gesture, then I imagine he was being condescending, although possibly not. Either way the guy sounds like an as*hole.