RangeRider"Just be nice. Don't look for arguments, don't join in with them. Polite, firm, non-committal. Your blood pressure will thank you."
This is really good advice but it's so hard to implement all the time with some people! My own DM has an infuriating communication technique in that she won't tell you the point of a story (or give you a clue) before she's started. She'll launch into a tale starting two thirds in, with tangents all over the show, she won't be interrupted, takes offence if you ask a question for orientation, so you have to sit there for as long as it takes with her meandering confusing story.
Even at the end she still won't have necessarily finished with the actual point. It's infuriating but my DH literally just smiles and nods all the way through - he's probably thinking about football results or something instead, but I actually try to follow the story, often fail (DH admits it's often impossible) and it's a toss up if DM and I end up fallen out at the end because to her it all made perfect sense. It would help if she gave you a clue at the start, but she doesn't.
Sometimes I think she likes to withhold the main point, because subconsciously it gives her power, knowing she knows. If you ask or try to guess what the point of the story is, she won't just tell you or confirm it, she says things like "I'm getting to it! Just wait!" (When you've waited a good 2-3 minutes of monologue already).
It's utterly infuriating but I do try and take a leaf out of DH's book and just smile and nod. And that's it.