One basic rule of survival is that, when a clearly deranged individual is ranting and raving in public, you shouldn’t engage with them. Generally speaking, there’s no benefit to doing so. You can’t persuade them not to be delusional, as much as you might like to. You can only make things worse.
Unfortunately, every now and then, despite your best efforts, sometimes this strategy doesn’t work out. We’ve all been there. You’re trying to mind your own business, and then out of nowhere, you catch a stranger’s eye. And then they might start talking about you. They might verbalize their unhinged delusions about who you are, or what you do for a living. And in those cases, sometimes, it can be impossible to resist saying a word or two in response. You know it won’t help anything, you know you probably shouldn’t do it, but it’s human nature to respond when someone — even…
