It looked like he was trying to balance a lot at the moment being 2nd in charge. He was impatient because he didn't have time to hand hold the new Santa while everything else was going on.

I think Bernard had job burnout. Happens to the best of us. And who can blame him? He'd probably been asked the exact same questions for thousands of years. That would drive anyone insane.

How many centuries has Bernard struggled his way up the corporate ladder to become Chief Elf, and now he has hit the glass ceiling. No matter what he does, they only hire into the CEO spot from the outside and there is no competing company to whom he can send his resume. No wonder he's a dick. I cannot help but sympathize with him.
You must have learned by now that it sucks to be in middle management. To be condemned to it for eternity is a huge load to carry. The only position I can think of that is worse than Bernard's is to be the head Sith under the Emperor. You would have nothing to look forward to except to eventually being killed by an offspring.
The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.

Speak for yourself, Bernard is a total package. Yes he may be a hostle to Scott when he first arrives at the pole. But under all that anger related stress, is a compassionate goofball. We still love him anyway. Crushed on him since 12 years of age ??

Bernard is the head elf not named Santa Claus. I can believe that he could be a tad grouchy.

I liked him better in this one than in the second one though.

I think Bernard was initiating Scott by acting like a jerk. I don't think he was genuinely mad at him. Look how his attitude totally changed when he talked to Charlie. I would add that he might have been showing off to the other elves. It would be the only opportunity for him to mouth off to his boss and get away with it. Look how submissive he is in the second film.

Bernard was awesome.I had a crush on him when I was a kid

You do realize Scott was now finding out his entire life was going to change against his will and he understood none of it because a small card only gave a cryptic clue that nobody would ever think meant you were forced to become Santa. Bernard could have understood that.
Exactly! I understand being in Bernard's position, with job burnout and being under immense pressure with everything seemingly falling on your shoulders. But come on, none of that is Scott's fault. Finding out that the subject of a childhood fable not only actually exists, but now you are being forced into his role, with absolutely no say so? He reacted the way anyone in such a position would.

You do realize Scott was now finding out his entire life was going to change against his will and he understood none of it because a small card only gave a cryptic clue that nobody would ever think meant you were forced to become Santa. Bernard could have understood that.

You do realize that it was his job to catch Scott up on the Santa job and act as a sort of Assistant Santa until he was caught up. Otherwise, the North Pole would have fallen apart during Scotts denial phase and none of the kids would have gotten toys. The poor guy was probably stressed out of his mind.

Santas are human and mortal, elves live thousands of years. If the elves were working with the real St. Nicholas' replacements since the fourth century, and if Santas had an average working time of say 15 years each, Bernard would have had to deal with close to a hundred replacements.
I'll cut him some slack, he probably had a bit of job burn out
Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.