You can be assertive without being rude.

We’ve all seen or heard it – restaurant customers being demanding over a certain meal serving, being loud and obnoxious, letting children run around a dining area, and other situations that must be dealt with in a calm manner. Having worked in restaurants a few decades ago, I had to be assertive without being rude when these episodes popped up.

Last week, my wife and I, along with our son and his lady friend, now a bride-to-be, experienced a local business representative who needs a lesson on being assertive without being rude.

We were standing beside a building waiting to enter a restaurant. We, as well as another older couple, were standing where we were because it was very hot and humid and the shade from the building provided some relief.

All of a sudden, this young man shows up, yells that we have to move, that this was a place of business (the property was right next to the road), that if we were here for the “services rendered” of the business he represented, then we could stay but if not, we had to stand in the sun on the other side of the street. Then he went into the business … within 20 seconds, he reappeared and yelled “I see you’re still standing here. Why are you still here? Did you not hear what I said?” The older gentleman said something about he thought they were standing in the road, and the rude business representative said, “You’re standing in the road? Well, that’s stupid!”

This young man was so instantly rude we were at a loss for words. We thought he could have explained his point a lot better than he did. We did move but even the people on the other side of the street were a bit taken aback by this young man’s rudeness.

Hopefully there is a lesson to be learned here – by both customers and business respresentatives.

Happy Labor Day, folks!