Originally Posted by WillCAD

I don't give a rodent's posterior what gender, age, or size a person is. Rude behavior is rude behavior, and my estimation of when to call it out or not call it out is not based on something as primitive or backward as whether they're a man or woman, or whether they may have an irate hubbie in line who might feel compelled to protect his lady's honor and virtue by challenging me to a joust because he thought I failed to show proper obeisance to the Weaker Sex.

However, my instinct is always to de-escalate a situation, so I probably would not have delivered that entire speech to the rude woman, only the first sentence or so. The angrier someone is, the less likely I am to speak to them at all, because even offering helpful suggestions can focus their anger on you. Still, someone who is holding up a line full of people due to either cluelessness or outright rudeness should be informed of the fact. I don't expect anyone to care about anyone but themselves in today's society, but many people do, in point of fact, mitigate their behavior to avoid causing inconvenience, difficulty, cost, or harm to others. Such behavior mitigation is called "common courtesy" or "manners".

YOUR situation was entirely different. Some guy actually pushed your wife while in line, that's assault, and rather than coming to her rescue like a knight in shining armor, you should have called the police and filed an assault complaint against the guy. Had he responded negatively to your advice to "mind his manners", you could have found yourself in a physical altercation that would have landed both of you in jail, despite the fault being entirely his.