Something that happened yesterday has me angry.

[markiv]

37. innocently ask 'unwelcome by whom besides yourself'?

staring her in the eye as you say it, with a raised eyebrow

answering a rude question with a firm but fair question is powerful

she's implying her remark is supported by someone else than herself, and calling her bluff would put her (and leave her) on the spot she tried to put you on. bet anything nobody else was willing to 'step in it', and help the rude lady out. and in the off chance she did mention anyone else immediatly say 'well, lets ask them', calling that bluff too. Use the ground that's been gained. whatever the people she might mention really think, odds overwhelmingly they're not going to back her up (management absolutely WONT back her up, 100 percent chance)

such a tactic was one of Ann Lander's favorites, she was a master of keeping dignity and cool

you're between the rock and the hard place of respecting elders, vs protecting your young, but protecting your own young cannot be compromised.

learn good, tough and fair ettiquete skills from people like ann landers, dear abby, miss manners etc, their entire livelyhoods were spent offering people advice on how to handle rude people without breaching ettiquete, which exposed the offended party to social scorn if not handled correctly

good luck