In a situation aboard an Alaskan cruise, a family faced an unjust accusation when the grandmother of another group claimed the daughter had shoved her, instead of addressing her misunderstanding. After an unfortunate incident where the daughter gently tapped the grandmother to alert her, the grandmother loudly protested, which left the family feeling uncomfortable. Miss Manners advises that responding to such rudeness should be done with composure and courtesy, emphasizing that maintaining a rational demeanor amid chaos contributes to a more credible stance in the eyes of others.
The grandmother's behavior was outrageous: She publicly and untruthfully accused your daughter of accosting her. The polite response to such behavior is the cold shoulder.
It was simple politeness on your part to assume that this was an honest misunderstanding, and to act on that assumption by apologizing.
The more rational and polite you are, and the more your nemesis resorts to whipping herself into a frenzy of finger-pointing and accusations, the more everyone else on the tour will conclude that yours is the more credible story.
In fact, my daughter did no such thing. How does one deal with this situation?
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