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Permalink Reply by Herb Munson on December 10, 2009 at 4:12pm

I would probably laugh at them and say something like, "Get a grip."

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Permalink Reply by John T Thull on December 10, 2009 at 4:27pm

I usually wait until they lose steam and then say "As I was saying...." or "Now that you are through with that cogent argument...." I try to remain rational and stick with the facts. Emotions are a poor basis for rational thought.

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Permalink Reply by Library_Goon on December 10, 2009 at 4:30pm

I don't have any children of my own, but my girlfriend said when her daughter used to throw one, she would make her go to her room until she settled her self down and was ready to talk (my girlfriend never argues with her ) about it like a sane person. My gf's daughter is a good kid because my gf has raised her to be like that - she (the daughter) knows what my gf expects and just does it. However, it took years of (for lack of a better word) 'conditioning.'

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Permalink Reply by LShieldes on December 10, 2009 at 5:43pm

So I was sitting there, clueless on how to respond, when I suddenly had an executive run off on a massive tantrum, I couldn't help but smile as I walked away.

Guy calls me up, upset with me. He couldn't remember the name of the file he was working on, he couldn't remember exactly when he was working on it, he couldn't remember where he was saving it, he couldn't remember even if it was on the network or his computer. After proving it wasn't on his recent docs, his temps, anywhere remotely on his computer, he started cussing non stop. I told him that there was nothign more that I could do, and walked off. Probably could have done more, but why at that point. I had taken enough of the brunt of his incompetance.

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Permalink Reply by Tanner on December 10, 2009 at 6:03pm

These have all been great responses for the outbursts. What about the silent treatment and stonewalling?

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Permalink Reply by asa c mcguire on December 10, 2009 at 7:18pm

I usually laugh at them and say "the important thing is you aren't angry"

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Permalink Reply by Russell J Shomberg on December 13, 2009 at 2:30pm

Simple. Don't treat people based off of the real age. Treat people based off of the age that they are acting.

I work as a sailing instructor. There have been times when I have had conversations with my 12 year old kids as though they were my age, and other times that I have talked to children parents as if they still needed a parent to tell them what to do. People react either by acting like an adult to prove that they are better than how they just acted or by acting more like a child because that is what they really are. The angrier they get and the calmer you stay the more people want to take your side and be rid of that person immediately.

On the other hand, I have been in the situation where you must work with that person. For example, if it is your boss. It never benefits an organization if you openly show dislike for the people above you. That just makes the people below you think it is ok to disregard orders from above. Therefore you must take your boss aside privately and talk it out with him, maybe with a group of his other subordinates.

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