Getting someone to feel remorse for demeaning you unnecessarily is probably more effective in inspiring them to mend their ways than trying to make them fear you, especially if you aren’t a particularly scary person. Perhaps more important, by calling somebody on their rotten treatment of you, you become a person who refuses to take crap from people, bolstering your dignity in your own eyes. You can’t always stop people from kicking you when you’re down, but you don’t have to roll over for them so they can land better blows.
