text: Eugene,
  
  Yes. As I related here recently, one morning as I was entering Marine Corps Base Hawaii (K-Bay) the marine at the guard shack, for whatever reason, ordered me to keep my hands placed on the steering wheel and in the next instant said, "Your ID, license and registration please."  Now, far from lacking a somewhat evil sense of humor, it did (but only for an instant) occur to me to utter a comeback like, "Well, sure Lance Corporal.  So which foot would you like for me to use?"
  
  But I heeded the better angels of my nature and so merely asked, "May I remove my hands from the steering wheel to get them?"  The young marine did drop me a slightly abashed expression for a second, but the end of this story is that I was allowed to proceed onto the base and there was no harm done.
  
  There's a difference between being assertive when necessary and being needlessly provocative.