How do you deal with an extroverted aggressive behaviour? That’s the question I asked myself on Saturday, December 7th, while I was sitting at a business launch at the Bayan Lepas International Airport, Penang, Malaysia. It was about 7 am and there was commotion at the entrance which was just a passenger talking loudly for no apparent reason.
He then walked up to the seating area and ordered a latte for himself by explaining to the barista how to make his cup of tasteful Latte. I could observe the discomfort that the barista was going through. He picked up his latte and proceeded to have a phone conversation, using vulgar language in public, without any care for ladies present.
Later in the plane, he was seated two seats to my back. I had a feeling that this 1.5-hour flight home would be interesting. The minute he sat down, he called one of the stewards and ordered him to prepare two sandwiches for his children who are at home. The steward complied. His sandwiches were delivered to him before we landed. He was very grateful and gracious about it. He then called the same steward again and requested two cans for beers during that early morning flight. I noticed that everyone he dealt with kind of gave in to his demands. He had a couple of friends on the same flight who from my observation were trying to avoid him for some good reasons.
This loud-mouthed passenger is a classic attention getter. His over assertiveness came across as being aggressive. I kind of like the way he communicated – firm, precise and short.
The point here is that in life we come across people of different attitudinal behaviour – extroverted or introverted. Some of us find it easier to deal with the introverts due to their passiveness. So when we come across these different types let us take a step back to understand them and learn to get along. There is always something we can learn from each other.
So during these upcoming festive season be more understanding of each other. Wishing all a very Merry Christmas and welcome a Happy New Year 2014. Joy to the World.
