We know that others will not just be standing around, agreeing with us, while we are practising being assertive for the first time. So, let's have a go and see what happens in a typical, tricky situation - that of taking something back to a shop.

Read the following out loud (somewhere quiet!) and think about how you would have reacted in this situation.

Being Assertive - Taking back the Cheese

Read this dialogue :

In a small supermarket, June returns some French cheese which, when opened at home, proved to be far more mouldy than it should be .

June

• "I brought this cheese yesterday. When I got home and opened it I found that it was mouldy. I want my money back please."

Shop Assistant

• "Nothing to do with me. I wasn't here yesterday" (Irrelevant logic)

June

• "I bought it in this shop and, as it is impossible to eat it, I want my money back."

Shop Assistant

• "That sort of cheese is meant to be mouldy. If you don't like that sort of thing you shouldn't buy it". (Argumentative bait)

June

• "I know what kind of cheese I buy. This is bad and I want my money back."

Shop Assistant

• "Look, there's a queue of people waiting behind you. Please would you let them pass." (Manipulative bait)

June

• "I can see there are people behind but, I brought this cheese yesterday. It is inedible and I want my money back."

Shop Assistant

• "Well - how much was it then?" (Reluctantly gives her the money back)