It is about social skills. What do you think "maturity and respect" means in the context of interacting with other humans? These are cultural norms, and different people conform to culture in different ways. Place "respectful, mature" American employees in a Japanese zaibatsu, and I think you'll discover respect is more a convention than a universal standard. ;-)
Pedantry aside, that engineer still comes off as a dick in this context.
> What do you think "maturity and respect" means in the
> context of interacting with other humans?
We're not talking cross-cultural divides here, we're talking about engineers not being allowed to hide behind the excuse that they're "not good with people" to allow them to be jerks.
One could argue a certain kind of engineering personality tends to comprise its own distinct culture. As an INTJ, a cross-cultural divide is precisely how I look at it.
I'm speaking more in general, though. To reiterate, this guy acted as a jerk, and I agree with you.
Pedantry aside, that engineer still comes off as a dick in this context.