We've all been stuck in conversations we can't get out of. Pity poor Red in McCall's 5864:
"And then Linda said she was going to bring a lemon pie and I said no, I wanted to bring my lemon chiffon cake and we can't have too much lemon at the luncheon because when there's too much tartness in a menu it really takes away from the savory quality of the casseroles, which is what anyone who knows anything about cooking knows but would you believe that Sheila Johnson said..."
Sometimes being overly polite, like Red there, just leads to pain. It doesn't hurt to take a page from the animal kingdom in these situations. I once had a wonderful dog named Hopkins -- a Corgi/Shepherd mix full of attitude who basically looked like a German Shepherd who'd been hit by a shrinking ray. Anyway, every morning we'd walk by a house where another dog would throw itself at the fence, barking its fool head off. Most dogs, given that situation, would bark right back -- but Hopkins would trot on by without a break in his step, without even a glance to that yapping idiot. And I can't help but be reminded of that every time I look at Advance 9798:
There's Purple, yap-yap-yapping...and Black and White just blissfully tunes her out. Well done!