Waiting 24 hours

Here's an interesting idea I got last weekend. Whenever someone wants to engage in some sort of confrontation that might escalate to petty name calling and excuse finding, why not just say, "Hey, I'll have to get back to you about this tomorrow."

Do not engage no matter what they say. Calmly repeat this statement if necessary and follow up by leaving.

Can you imagine what might happen if this behavior were to catch on? How many hurt feelings, broken noses, and fractured relationships might be spared? If I can remember, in the heat of the moment, I'm going to give this a try.

You know how you always look back on these sort of altercations and say "Damn, I wish I would have said this." But more than this I think that, when given the chance to think things through, I might see the value of what they had to say. It wouldn't matter if they were right or wrong but to be able to see a situation from another perspective,and have the time to think things through, might lead to some learning.