What would you do in these situations?

Sukerkin

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I paraphrase but "Now jus' y'all remember now that you don't go ninj'n nobody that don't need no ninj'n" :lol:

Lordy I'd forgotten how funny that Hillbilly Ninja was :tup:.
 

Bill Mattocks

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Lol... Unless they're hippies. Then its fireworks!!!! Haha. :)

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

No, they can still insult me and I'll leave instead of becoming violent. If they block my legal entrance into my bank; THEN it's fireworks. Talk all you like; just don't get in my way.

Just FYI, I had occasion to drive down to Detroit Friday morning. My route took me past the Occupy Detroit swine. I did not give them so much as a one-finger salute as I drove by, nor did I drive through their encampment cackling with mad glee. I have no desire to support them either by protesting with or against them. I do my level best to ignore them. I've even ceased contributing to threads about them.

Interestingly, several of my liberal friends who took great offense at some of my posts on Facebook and Google+ and asked me to 'tone down my rhetoric' still feel compelled to post their pro-OWS crapola with great fervor. I do not ask them to 'tone it down', nor am I offended by their hate-filled spews, regardless of how incorrect I find their position. And yet, I'm the intolerant one. Funny. I vented my spleen and moved on. Them? Stuck in a rut, but not seeing themselves as being as offensive as they seemed to think I was. Why is that, do you suppose?
 

Jenna

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Just wondering how you would react in these situations, or what is the best thing to do in these situations...

1. Someone insults you
2. Someone insults your wife/girlfriend in front of you both
3. When a customer is rude and has a bad attitude
All of this assumes that you are the "good" guy. What is the situation exactly where someone has insulted you? Were you minding your own business? Were you criticising their contemporary art sculpture at their first night exhibition? Did you and your gal diss their champion Chihuahua? Why was the customer rude? Did you do a second-rate job? Did you look at them in a belittling way?

What is cause for a smack to some people is simply voicing dissatisfaction to another I think. I think to make judgement calls here on what to do we must also make several assumptions about the situation which led to the insult / rudeness. If you specify the situation (either real or imagined) then it would be easier to reply.

For the record, yes I would smack anybody that dissed Seagal, my Chihuahua. He is a champion you know. And very proud.
 

Cyriacus

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All of this assumes that you are the "good" guy. What is the situation exactly where someone has insulted you? Were you minding your own business? Were you criticising their contemporary art sculpture at their first night exhibition? Did you and your gal diss their champion Chihuahua? Why was the customer rude? Did you do a second-rate job? Did you look at them in a belittling way?

What is cause for a smack to some people is simply voicing dissatisfaction to another I think. I think to make judgement calls here on what to do we must also make several assumptions about the situation which led to the insult / rudeness. If you specify the situation (either real or imagined) then it would be easier to reply.

For the record, yes I would smack anybody that dissed Seagal, my Chihuahua. He is a champion you know. And very proud.
...Is your Chihuahua named after Steven Seagal, him being an Aikidoka and all? :D
 

Jenna

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...Is your Chihuahua named after Steven Seagal, him being an Aikidoka and all? :D
Well it was either call him that or Paris. He looks more like a Paris to be fair. Nah, I am just joking. I do not have a Chihuahua. I am sensitive to rodents. They disturb my chakras.
 

Cyriacus

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Well it was either call him that or Paris. He looks more like a Paris to be fair. Nah, I am just joking. I do not have a Chihuahua. I am sensitive to rodents. They disturb my chakras.
You lied to Us, Jenna.
Your Lies will bring you down.
DOWN!
 

Steve

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No, they can still insult me and I'll leave instead of becoming violent. If they block my legal entrance into my bank; THEN it's fireworks. Talk all you like; just don't get in my way.Just FYI, I had occasion to drive down to Detroit Friday morning. My route took me past the Occupy Detroit swine. I did not give them so much as a one-finger salute as I drove by, nor did I drive through their encampment cackling with mad glee. I have no desire to support them either by protesting with or against them. I do my level best to ignore them. I've even ceased contributing to threads about them.Interestingly, several of my liberal friends who took great offense at some of my posts on Facebook and Google+ and asked me to 'tone down my rhetoric' still feel compelled to post their pro-OWS crapola with great fervor. I do not ask them to 'tone it down', nor am I offended by their hate-filled spews, regardless of how incorrect I find their position. And yet, I'm the intolerant one. Funny. I vented my spleen and moved on. Them? Stuck in a rut, but not seeing themselves as being as offensive as they seemed to think I was. Why is that, do you suppose?
have you told them that you are offended? If so, you're absolutely right. If not, you're being a little passive aggressive.
 

MA-Caver

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Just wondering how you would react in these situations, or what is the best thing to do in these situations...

1. Someone insults you
2. Someone insults your wife/girlfriend in front of you both
3. When a customer is rude and has a bad attitude

1. Insult them back if I know 'em... if I don't... walk away
2. Beat the living mother crap out of them.... actually it depends upon the insult... and cues from her. That is a sticky... how does SHE feel about violence on her behalf? But definitely demand an apology.
3. Deal with them, politely, respectfully and refer them to upper management if I cannot resolve the situation ... chances are you not going to see them again ever. In my past job I've had to deal with this several times and done my best to make them happy and if I'm unsuccessful then I referred them to upper management... that's THEIR job.
 

chinto

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Just wondering how you would react in these situations, or what is the best thing to do in these situations...

1. Someone insults you
2. Someone insults your wife/girlfriend in front of you both
3. When a customer is rude and has a bad attitude

Nothing, that is unless a physical threat is present. I agree with the one poster, be nice, be polite, be kind Until the line is crossed. If it is crossed then no door is barred. at that point its take care of the problem with minimal effort and time expended. but unless and until that physical threat is present I can not act . I can ask the person involved to back off and leave. ( depending on where and other circumstances ) We can leave as well. but if the line is crossed then its time to deal with the situation.
 

sfs982000

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Just wondering how you would react in these situations, or what is the best thing to do in these situations...

1. Someone insults you
2. Someone insults your wife/girlfriend in front of you both
3. When a customer is rude and has a bad attitude

1. Acutally if someone tries to insult me I just start laughing like it was the funniest thing I've heard, normally the person that is doing the insulting thinks I'm insane and walks away.

2. My wife can do a pretty good job of defending herself, I'd just be there in case it turned physical.

3. Normally I just shrug it off and be as polite as I can, unless it was my last day on the job then someone is getting business right back. :)
 

Tez3

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In scenerio 3 the best thing is be ultra polite and helpful, it puts you in the right with bosses and any witnesses... best of all it really, really annoys the person who's being rude to you.
 

Flea

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It depends on the context.

1) More than likely, laugh. Once someone I knew well who had a long track record of being childish and spiteful prompted me to fall to my knees for an Oscar-winning performance. "Oh, he just said I was a poopiepants! My life is over!!! Why, Jesus, whyyyyyyyyyyyy??????" The look on his face was totally priceless, and he gave me a wide berth ever after. Totally worth it.

2) 'Bout the same. If the insult was a veiled threat, I'd probably say something like "You can call me a poopiepants all you like, but doing ___ is unnecessary. Good day to you."

3) Be nice. Then send my boss an email about how they behaved, which often means that their complaints go nowhere in that and all future transactions with the company.

My guiding principle when someone is spitting nails comes from Monty Pythons "How to Irritate People." You don't push someone to the point that they explode, because that would give them relief. No, you keep them on a slow simmer just under the boiling point for as long as they stick around. People like that rarely have the common sense to let it go and walk away, which is what makes it so much fun. Especially when you play clueless and be all reasonable and accommodating.
 
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iTz BoT

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All of this assumes that you are the "good" guy. What is the situation exactly where someone has insulted you? Were you minding your own business? Were you criticising their contemporary art sculpture at their first night exhibition? Did you and your gal diss their champion Chihuahua? Why was the customer rude? Did you do a second-rate job? Did you look at them in a belittling way?

What is cause for a smack to some people is simply voicing dissatisfaction to another I think. I think to make judgement calls here on what to do we must also make several assumptions about the situation which led to the insult / rudeness. If you specify the situation (either real or imagined) then it would be easier to reply.

For the record, yes I would smack anybody that dissed Seagal, my Chihuahua. He is a champion you know. And very proud.

I work as security at an airport and a few weeks ago I got into a situation with a passenger who didnt want to cooperate. All I did was ask to see his and his wife's passport for a security check (as we do with every passenger) and they responded quite aggressively with a "youre not immigration! you dont need to see my passport!". I stayed polite, didnt raise my voice and tried to explain to them why we need to see their passports. In the end they gave their passports and I let a colleague do the security checks because I didnt want to deal with them. She kinda responded to them quite aggressively and made the whole situation worse. Just got me wondering how people would react in similar situations. I thought I responded quite well, my colleague didnt think so.
 

Jenna

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I work as security at an airport and a few weeks ago I got into a situation with a passenger who didnt want to cooperate. All I did was ask to see his and his wife's passport for a security check (as we do with every passenger) and they responded quite aggressively with a "youre not immigration! you dont need to see my passport!". I stayed polite, didnt raise my voice and tried to explain to them why we need to see their passports. In the end they gave their passports and I let a colleague do the security checks because I didnt want to deal with them. She kinda responded to them quite aggressively and made the whole situation worse. Just got me wondering how people would react in similar situations. I thought I responded quite well, my colleague didnt think so.
Why did your colleague not think you did well? Was it because they felt you had not responded forceably enough? Or because you did not wish to deal with the situation at all?

Obviously I was not present (nor am I qualified) to adjudicate though I guess that is a pure judgement call whether for you to impose your authority requires aggressive handling or not. In any given situation, different folks will have different tolerances to rude or potential aggressive behaviour. Your calm yet firm and authoratitive disposition I would have thought -from my layperson POV- was the best way to diffuse the situation, no?
 

Steve

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I work as security at an airport and a few weeks ago I got into a situation with a passenger who didnt want to cooperate. All I did was ask to see his and his wife's passport for a security check (as we do with every passenger) and they responded quite aggressively with a "youre not immigration! you dont need to see my passport!". I stayed polite, didnt raise my voice and tried to explain to them why we need to see their passports. In the end they gave their passports and I let a colleague do the security checks because I didnt want to deal with them. She kinda responded to them quite aggressively and made the whole situation worse. Just got me wondering how people would react in similar situations. I thought I responded quite well, my colleague didnt think so.
In dealing with customers, particularly the irate kind, I use the four "F"s: Friendly, Fair, Firm and Final.

If you do all of these, you'll be amazed at how many times you can quickly defuse a difficult interaction with the public. If challenged like this, I would also offer a very brief, succinct explanation of why I'm asking. "Sir, I need to see the passport so that I can verify your identity and citizenship."

If there are alternatives to the passport, offer them. "Sir, I need to verify your identity. A passport is preferred, but I can also use a State issued drivers license."

You don't have be aggressive, but you do have to be assertive. There's a big difference between the two. While neither of the two statements above are aggressive at all, they also offer no wiggle room. Friendly, firm, fair and final. :)

The next step, if the person still refuses to cooperate, is to communicate the consequences. "If I can't verify your identity, I can't allow you past the checkpoint to your gate."

It's really pretty simple stuff. If they cooperate, be genuine when you thank them and sincere when you wish them a pleasant trip. No reason to be snarky. A lot of people get anxious when they deal with any government agent. I bet it's even more pronounced when you add travel to the mix.
 

Nomad

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Just wondering how you would react in these situations, or what is the best thing to do in these situations...

1. Someone insults you
2. Someone insults your wife/girlfriend in front of you both
3. When a customer is rude and has a bad attitude

1. If it's a friend, insult him back outrageously and raise the stakes. If it isn't, then nothing (or laugh)... it's just empty wind.

2. Speed-dial 911 for a free bus ride for the unfortunate rube that insulted my wife while she (usually verbally) rips him a new one. If it's in my house, invite the person to leave. If it's elsewhere, try to get her to leave before charges are pending ;)

3. Continue to act in a polite and professional manner, and document everything in case it comes up later. Preferably with a witness to back my side of the story.
 

jks9199

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Insults happen with depressing regularity at work; insults are words. Depending on the circumstances, and how amusing I find it, I laugh or note them to build my case. Novel insults get points... unless you wear them out by repeating them for 20 minutes. Other circumstances, you get told to shut up, or I simply ignore it and walk away. In other words, I stay calm, and do what I have to. Off the clock? Generally, I let 'em roll off my back. They're just words.

Rudeness or bad attitude? That depends. My "customers" are generally not in charge. If they're mouthing off but doing what I need 'em to -- I'll let them run their mouths, at least until it becomes a problem. Of course, rudeness or bad attitudes may also mean that they don't get a break... But if they're attitude or rudeness is coupled with NOT doing what I need them to... that gets handled. Quickly, and professionally -- but it gets handled.

One of the best ways to really frustrate someone who's worked up a good head of steam about something is to listen calmly -- and actually listen and respond to the problem.
 
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