Take a decoy

If you go to an event and you suspect there may be someone there who may compromise your politeness, take someone as a foil.  I went to a party last night and feared a troublesome person would be there.  So, I took a friend who vowed to keep me in tact.  The person didn't come but I was glad I'd put measures in place to avoid an unsettling situation.

When visiting, hold the criticism

I am a member of an organization where we have visitors come by occasionally.  At the last meeting, some visitors criticized the format from the floor.

Our membership was offended.  But, there's a lesson in that.

When visiting another organization, keep you criticism to yourself until the end of the meeting.  Then, take the person aside.  No one likes to be called out and/or fronted in the presence of a crowd.  The upside is that it gave the membership something to rally around.

And, we've decided to establish a policy in which we alert visitors to keep any comments to themselves until the meeting is over.  So, there is a lesson in that faux pas and I'm glad to share it with you.