Great post. I admit, I am quick to engage at times but I have become far more selective when I question myself if I really want to pursue this.

I can be a first-rate hothead if my safety or quality of life are at stake. Those are situations where you HAVE to react. But other things (who gets to take credit at work, who's gonna cut in front of me in traffic, the cashier has an attitude, family member this-or-that, etc.) are just too petty. Life is too short to be the morality police. If people need to argue and "win" for their own security, let 'em. The may have the "victory", but I have my dignity which is far more important.

I have been around long enough to know that some people simply get out of bed looking to argue with someone. They like to be "right" or "show people up". That speaks more to their lack of character than anything. At that point I don't engage with them, I feel sorry for them.

A perfect example is a few years ago I worked with this guy and we, shall we say, differed in our political views. I used to entertain his conversations until they just got embarrassing and he would get loud and embarrass everyone in our aisle. He'd always masked it with "Oh, I'm just playin!'" After getting tired of it and not caring if I offended him, next time he started I just said, "Whatever, man." I was too exhausted to deal with this bonehead. He finally transferred to another team and I guess he's still pulling the same stuff there as well.