I am a rising senior this year and the fastest on my team by a good amount. I'm pretty good but no super star (right under 9:30 3200m), anyways, I display a great amount of hard work and dedication at practice. I take care of business and get after it, but i also have a lot of fun and goof off a good amount.
The crazy mother of a female teammate (who is homeschooled, but zoned for my High school) has approached me on several occasions berating me and calling me a stupid highschool boy who gets no respect on the team because I act stupid. I don't drink or smoke anything- so when she says act stupid she is referring to my wide range of sense of humor that she can't appreciate. (as she is not socially fluent) I am highly confident that the guys on the team respect and like me, should I just tell this crazy lady to back off or just keep smiling and nodding? (avoiding confrontation)
P.S. part of the reason that she hates me Is that, as a freshman i gave her daughter a baby doll head as a joke gift at a team christmas party. They legitimately got scared and have seen me as a twisted person since then as they don't understand most forms of humor. I am not aggressive and dont make morbid jokes regularly, but that gift was funny and clever to a 15 year old boy.