I just read a great article from Creating Passionate Users called The Worst Way to Calm Someone Down.
The three images that begin the article made me laugh because I see myself in them. When people around me are upset, it's so hard for me to resist the temptation to say, "Relax! Calm yourself down." But of course this often has the opposite effect, and the other person only gets more upset.
I'm familiar with the article's suggested solution, which is a...