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" In life, you have to be strategic \u2014 especially when you&amp;#039;re faced with a clueless individual who aggressively acts bitchy, annoying, or way too pushy for her own damn good. In other words, you can&amp;#039;t sit back and keep your lips zipped, wondering if a fight is worth the fallout.  That said, knowing exactly which situations warrant going in for the kill (and working up the nerve to do it) isn&amp;#039;t always easy. So we&amp;#039;ve mapped it out for you. Here are the seven types of people you have full permission to treat to a swift kick in the pants...plus the clever plan of attack you should follow. CLUELESS PERSON 1: The Coworker Who Takes Props for Your Work After Sarah,* 32, pulled a string of all-nighters to finish writing a newspaper article, a fellow reporter praised her piece. But the next day, she overheard her editor mistakenly congratulate that other reporter for the story. &amp;quot;My credit-stealing coworker didn&amp;#039;t correct our editor,&amp;quot; she recalls. &amp;quot;I was pissed, but I wasn&amp;#039;t sure what to say, so I let it go.&amp;quot; Every office has one: a glory hog who tries to home in on someone else&amp;#039;s achievements. But because this insecure, sneaky type is banking on the fact that you won&amp;#039;t confront her and demand the credit you deserve, you have to get in her face as soon as possible. &amp;quot;When you&amp;#039;re alone, approach her politely yet firmly and say, &amp;#039;I&amp;#039;m not sure how it happened, but I found out that the boss thinks you did X, when I did it,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; suggests Barbara Pachter, author of The Power of Positive Confrontation. &amp;quot;This puts the ball in her court without making her defensive.&amp;quot;  If she responds with a feeble excuse or claims that sharing credit is all part of the office culture, tell her she has to set the record straight with the head honcho or you will. &amp;quot;She knows it&amp;#039;s in her best interest to go to the boss herself rather than have you do it,&amp;quot; says Pachter. Urge her on by setting a deadline; say she has two days at most or you&amp;#039;re taking matters into your own hands. CLUELESS PERSON 2: The Nosy Friend Who Keeps Trying to Set You Up Whether she&amp;#039;s orchestrating unwanted blind dates or secretly signing you up for www.ineedaman.com, the well-meaning maneuverings of this romantic meddler are tough to take. &amp;quot;My now-married roommate from college drops comments such as &amp;#039;Why don&amp;#039;t you give speed-dating a chance?&amp;#039;&amp;quot; explains Lisa, 28. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve tried defusing her with a sarcastic reply, but she won&amp;#039;t lay off.&amp;quot;  As irritating as this busybody is, she probably thinks that playing matchmaker is part of being a good pal. To get her to back away, explain that her actions are threatening your friendship. &amp;quot;Next time she hints about some cute new bachelor in her office, cut in with &amp;#039;Listen, when you offer to set me up like that, I wonder if you feel sorry for me for not having a man in my life, which causes me to think twice about spending time with you,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; says Susan Scott, author of Fierce Conversations. &amp;quot;Then add &amp;#039;I know you&amp;#039;re just trying to help, but I&amp;#039;m fine, so stop worrying about my single status.&amp;#039;&amp;quot; Yeah, she might feel slighted...and your friendship could take a hit. But at least you&amp;#039;ll have nipped her condescension in the bud. *Names have been changed.  CLUELESS PERSON 3: A Loud Neighbor Who Cranks Up the Volume No chick wants to be that party pooper who is always nagging her neighbors to keep the sound down. But your home is your sanctuary, and if the guy upstairs from you jacks the bass or does workout drills while you&amp;#039;re trying to relax, you can&amp;#039;t just bite your tongue, plug up your ears, and pray he moves...soon.  Here&amp;#039;s the cardinal rule of neighbor confrontations: Talk soon and talk nice. &amp;quot;Once you&amp;#039;re sure his noisemaking isn&amp;#039;t just a one-time thing, stop by his place and say something nonaccusatory yet direct, like &amp;#039;The walls here are so thin, I can hear your music. Would you mind turning it down?&amp;#039;&amp;quot; advises Tim Ursiny, PhD, author of The Coward&amp;#039;s Guide to Conflict. &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;re not screaming at him for keeping you up at night, but you&amp;#039;re making the point that it&amp;#039;s his responsibility to do something about it.&amp;quot;  If that doesn&amp;#039;t convince him to reduce the racket, go to plan B: Invite him to your place so he can hear the din for himself. &amp;quot;When he realizes that you aren&amp;#039;t overreacting, he&amp;#039;ll have to acknowledge the problem,&amp;quot; says Ursiny. And if that doesn&amp;#039;t work, drop the L bomb. Say, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;d like to work this out without getting the landlord involved.&amp;quot; He will too, and the decibel level should go down. CLUELESS PERSON 4: That Guy You&amp;#039;re Not Interested in Who Keeps Calling If men could pick up on get-lost vibes, shooing away a persistent paramour would never be an issue. But unless you&amp;#039;re dealing with that psychic Crossing Over dude, you&amp;#039;ll have to spell things out bluntly. &amp;quot;If you passively ignore him or aren&amp;#039;t firm when you say no to his offer to go out, he&amp;#039;ll likely hear maybe and keep bugging you,&amp;quot; says Bradley Fenton, author of Stumbling Naked in the Dark: Overcoming Mistakes Men Make With Women. &amp;quot;Women feel guilty about being blunt, but it&amp;#039;s the tone men understand the best. It&amp;#039;s how most guys deal with everything in their lives.&amp;quot;  Brutal honesty is surprisingly easy to pull off. Next time he calls for a date, say no, adding that you want him to quit dialing you up as well. This is how Stella, 31, handled a dogged Mr. Wrong she had one dinner with. &amp;quot;After two weeks of seeing his name pop up on my caller ID, I took a deep breath, straightened my spine, and replied, &amp;#039;No, I don&amp;#039;t want to go out again. You&amp;#039;re a nice guy, but it didn&amp;#039;t click for me,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; she recalls. &amp;quot;I hated being so brusque, but you know what? It worked.&amp;quot;  CLUELESS PERSON 5: Your Friend Who Is Chronically Late for Everything There you are, sitting solo at a bar again, fending off seedy guys and pitiful stares while vowing that this is the last time you&amp;#039;ll ever put up with your pal&amp;#039;s tardiness. But when she finally comes through the door, frantically apologizing and blaming bad traffic, you excuse her with a weak &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s no big deal&amp;quot; and go on to simmer through your dinner. A friend who is constantly late isn&amp;#039;t evil, but she is selfish and rude. So give her inconsiderate ass a kick like this: When she saunters into the restaurant half an hour late and offers her usual halfhearted apology, don&amp;#039;t accept it. &amp;quot;Calmly respond, &amp;#039;When you&amp;#039;re not on time, I ask myself whether you value our friendship enough to be prompt,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; explains Scott. But rather than reaming her out for the next 20 minutes or forcing her to account for her lateness, propose a solution. &amp;quot;If you are running behind, just call me on my cell to let me know, so I can do errands or stay later at work instead of waiting around.&amp;quot; Sure, she might be shocked by your take-no-prisoners tone. But if your friendship means anything to her, she&amp;#039;ll keep a closer eye on the clock. CLUELESS PERSON 6: Your New Man Who Skimps on Pleasing You in Bed You and he have major sparks, and you love lavishing him with erotic attention. But when it comes to your satisfaction, you feel as if you&amp;#039;re being, well, short-sheeted. &amp;quot;He&amp;#039;s not necessarily a selfish lover; he probably just doesn&amp;#039;t know that you need more of a certain stroke or it takes longer for you to be satisfied,&amp;quot; says psychologist Pam Spurr, PhD, author of Make Love All Night and Talk to Him in the Morning. But kicking a guy&amp;#039;s behind in the bedroom can be tricky. Say too much or make a major deal out of it and you risk sounding hypercritical, especially if you two haven&amp;#039;t been together very long. But if you hold back, you won&amp;#039;t score the pleasure you deserve. Strike a balance by speaking up in the moment. &amp;quot;As you&amp;#039;re both getting warmed up during foreplay, whisper something sexy and positive like &amp;#039;Right there, perfect, do more of that&amp;#039; or &amp;#039;Yes, touch me here again and again,&amp;#039; &amp;quot; says Spurr. &amp;quot;This is the kind of real-time direction guys respond to.&amp;quot; Plus, he&amp;#039;ll instantly see how aroused his extra attention makes you, giving him more incentive to please you in the future. Yet you aren&amp;#039;t barking orders or instructing him like he&amp;#039;s a high school virgin.  CLUELESS PERSON 7: The Chick in Your Circle Who Trashes a Mutual Friend You&amp;#039;re tough enough to negotiate a higher salary for yourself and ask out a crush. But when faced with a buddy who is bad-mouthing another pal, you probably avoid confronting her, either because you convince yourself the backstabber is right (well, Jill does date some real losers) or you rationalize that the nasty comments will never get back to their target anyway. &amp;quot;But if the put-downs pinch your conscience, you owe it to the slighted friend and yourself to say something,&amp;quot; explains Judith Selee McClure, PhD, author of Civilized Assertiveness for Women. So next time the bad-mouther lobs a cheap shot, make it clear that you don&amp;#039;t support her. &amp;quot;Try not to smile or stay silent. She&amp;#039;ll interpret these signals to mean you&amp;#039;re on her side, and that just eggs her on,&amp;quot; says McClure. Instead, come back with something like &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m surprised to hear you say that...I thought you two were close&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s weird, that hasn&amp;#039;t been my experience with her.&amp;quot; You&amp;#039;re not being sanctimonious or taking sides; you&amp;#039;re just letting her know you don&amp;#039;t approve of her derision. &amp;quot;When people hear dissent, it throws them off-balance and makes them less willing to keep ranting,&amp;quot; adds McClure. &amp;quot;So then they backpedal and soften their statements. They&amp;#039;re afraid of coming off as the bad guy.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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