I get it. I didn't think you meant it as an offense against anyone who was, more that it's rude of other people to ask you something that's personal or treat you differently. Actually, handicap people don't like being assumed they need help either!

If someone persists like this man did, I would just say "you know, whether I am or not, and I'm not, is none of your business. My personal information is none of your business, nor am I obligated to share it with you. I am happy to assist you as a customer, so I would appreciate keeping the conversation to questions about our products/services/whatever."

I mean, frankly, what you're dealing with is super rude people. I have a service dog. Businesses can ask me two questions, legally, about my service dog. I don't mind answering those questions to staff or owners. But more often than not, I get some nosy member of the general public shouting at me "what's wrong with you?!" as if for some reason I'm obligated to tell them my diagnosis. I just flat out tell them my private medical information is none of their business. Sometimes I'm more polite than others. SOme times I point out that it's actually rude to ask a stranger their personal medical information. SOmetimes I just tell them they are rude and it's none of their business...point is, we're not obligated to be nice to people who are rude to us. It's really up to you. I wouldn't blame you if you don't have the bandwidth to deal with it every day.

Seesaw