Play the long game.

I remember a time I was being very badly criticised by a person at an Art Fair, I had all my paintings out and this gentleman decided that a child could have painted them, and how stupid I was for trying to sell such rubbish. He was not nice with his words and certainly did not like me.

I just keep answering nicely and being courteous to the person and kept smiling, until they finally left. I could see that a small crowd had gathered to listen to my critic and I did not want to offend anyone else.

I was amazed at how many came up after the guy had left and congratulated me for not getting angry and arguing back.

I said I felt sorry for the guy as he was probably having a bad day his whole life, so why escalate it by arguing, no one wins an argument, it would not have changed his opinion.

To my amazement out of that little adversity I gained some customers as they said they liked the idea of dealing with someone who could control their temper.

Never get angry, get disappointed it is easier to deal with later.

There are a lot of people out there who just want to argue for the sake of it, don't even entertain them, it will only drag you down to their level.

Just smile and be courteous, no matter how hard that may be.

Remember it is hard to argue with someone who will not argue back and you never know who is listening and watching, especially if it is in public, potential customers could be watching.

Be courteous and smile back, win the long game.