What causes a person to smile and nod when someone insults them?

Uhhhmmm, do you have a bow and arrow?

Well, good for you that you didn’t say anything. Why stoop to his level? That person obviously displayed poor social skills and was rude to a stranger. Sounds like a shmuck. You’re better off in not responding—you showed him that his comment wasn’t worth a civil response. Perhaps next time he’ll reconsider opening his mouth.

As for smiling and nodding, I would respond that way if I was in shock and temporarily stunned, or if I didn’t want the other person to notice that his/her sting hit their mark.

There’s no need to smile in such situation. Just ignore this kind of person. They do not deserve your word.

I think some of it is being well-bred and not wanting to respond to that person’s rudeness in kind. For me, I’ve also found that it’s not worth it to provoke someone who insults people just for fun. Escalating the situation takes up too much time.

Supreme inner calm & serenity, in other words class.

I’ll play devil’s advocate yet again I guess. If the dog is one of those tiny tiny “dogs” than it really isn’t a dog at all imho. I actually refer to them as chicken nuggets with legs… but…. Nevertheless, I have more respect for the person who strikes back at such a whimsical observation. It’s not the end of the world. It’s just a joke. There really shouldn’t be any hate started over something so trivial. Quips are fun.

It’s called self-respect. Why degrade yourself to that of the idiot that made the comment in the first place? Best way to “get back” is to not react at all. Just smile and nod as if it didn’t even happen ;)

I think he was joking, and was trying to be friendly.

Maybe he was hitting on you.

Either way, words are just words. They won’t hurt you unless you let them.

In a word, wisdom.

I think he was just joking you know its a guy thing, guys want big monsters on the end of a leash? But anyway, I think telling him to f off would have been a tad unladylike! so rather think of something witty if you can loll. I would have said, so you got shrek on a leash I see… or some dumb remark.

@NaturalMineralWater Ah, well… that’s one thing that I’ve learned about life, you can’t please all of the people all of the time… you are right about one thing though, quips are fun.

By smiling and nodding, I’m only imagining the physical damage I could inflict on the jerk if I so chose. Just a mental constuct, since I truly don’t care what some stranger in the street thinks or says.

I must have been having a half asleep moment, and the cat must have had my tongue. lol! I don’t know why this guy’s comments bugged me…maybe I need some sugar….thanks to all that have answered.

People rarely come up to people to say anything so to have a guy barge into your space and insult your dog is surely a surprising and uncomfortable moment. You reacted accordingly even though inside you wanted to KHA!

Because women are taught to be agreeable and non-confrontational and non-argumentative. We smile, we nod, we say “Oh, I’m sorry!” for unnecessary reasons. We’re taught to worry about what others think of us, instead of learning that someone’s else’s opinion is just that, an opinion, and not a statement of fact that we must reshape our lives to. And it makes us look like pushovers.

I notice when certain types of men wish to feel better, they take out their ish on women. You don’t have to be one of those women. This dude may have been having a bad day, and whether he was or not, or whether he’s just a bully and a jerk, you needn’t take anything he said seriously. Yes, I know people do this to each other in general, and the same thing applies.

This isn’t to say you should engage ignorant strangers by telling them off if they aren’t threatening you.. But the very fact that you’ve realized that smiling and nodding isn’t the best response is a good step. It’s OK to not even respond in any way to such idiocy. Feel free to carry yourself forthrightly in the world with your dog and guys like that will pick up on it and not open their mouths.

I’m with Cruiser on this. People of either sex are rarely ready for surprise attacks and to be ready would require a mindset most of us don’t want to have either because we don’t want to be that wary or to work that hard.

He’s a jerk. You’re not. I suspect your reaction would meet Miss Manners’ approval.

I’d personally say years of bullying but that’s just my story

smiling and nodding is a humble manner, one which I would sincerely admire in somebody

@Blackberry
Wow…I know what to do now!

@Blackberry. LOL..Those moderators got to my original question and told me it needed editing. My bow and arrow are right underneath my desk.

I think you did the right thing. Someone who would walk up to a total stranger and cast an insult is half a bubble off plumb. Best to just smile and walk away rather than, well, who knows…

You’re obviously not interested in wasting your time getting irritated with rude and possibly combative people. It may not be fear at all but your good instinct, judgement and social manners.

i think what stopped you from reacting poorly, was the fact that deep down you knew it was just a joke and jokes are allowed.

I get the ignoring, but why the smile? He didn’t deserve a smile.

The outcome of the actual coonflict and the potential bruise to the ego… Plain and simple.

Of all the nerve, You did not stoop to his level, but what a ridiculus thing to say. What kind of dog do you have, not to insult you or anything. He’s an idiot

It’s because you were probably raised to be polite.

Maybe the insult just came at you unexpectedly.. and you weren’t sure how to react, so your body had a natural self-defence mechanism already lined up and ready to use. :)