Alrighty, so I'm currently in Russia and one of the differences between here and the States is that here, cashiers and all people like those who have to deal with customers have next to zero patience and are very easily angered. In the States, it's common knowledge that cashiers get abused by customers. But here in Russia (and plenty of other countries as well), it is the other way around. Cashiers abuse customers all the time.

All my life I have been a very sensitive person. It runs in the family, really. My mom is the same, and her mom was the same. I honestly cannot handle a stranger yelling at me/being rude to me. It's actually quite a huge flaw because it makes me nervous about getting a full time job and having some jerk for a boss. So far my bosses have been pretty nice, but these have been part-time jobs...

Anyhoo, so I'm just wondering, what is a good way to deal with someone who is rude to you? Somebody's raised voice actually ruins my whole day. I've had to get a new passport here in Russia and have had to go to a bunch of different places and talk with a bunch of different people, and finally I was so fed up with everyone (all women, btw) having such terrible tempers that I burst into tears at the entrance of another passport-related building. I had to have my mom go in there with me. I'm 21 and too old for this!