Spanish-speaking associate handling workplace bullying.

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Working at my job in the department store today Sunday, a lady from another department came over to use our department's phone. 'He was yelling at me in front of customers. I don't understand it.' 'And I have a witness.'

She got a manager on the phone. 'Yes, I need to speak with you right away. Yes, very serious.'

My point is that she played to strength.

If she had gotten into . . . well, he may have done it for this reason, or maybe I should have . . . then she would be entering the realm of six of one, half a dozen of the other. People are already predisposed to equalize blame, and you don't want to make it a big complex swirl.

Just a simple "I don't know why he was acting as he was."

Let the managerial person delve into motivations and broker a settlement. And likely the first thing he or she is likely to tell the other person is: Look, whatever's going on, you can't yell at someone, particularly not in front of customers.

On your own, sure, it's helpful to make your best read on motivations, but in workplace conflict situations, often better to hold that in reserve and play it cool.

Thanks for the advice. I can think of how I might need to use that if someone acts that way with me again.

You're welcome. And I think it's one more good skill to have in one's repertoire.

You know, the associate didn't overexplain, like I might have done. Instead, yeah, leave something for the manager to do.