For a long time I dealt with anger (provoked by other people) by being angry at myself. When you make a mistake it’s easy to understand why you would blame yourself. But when others treat you badly way it’s a bit harder to understand the blame. One thing is for sure. When you are angry with somebody else for whatever reason, that feeling is only affecting your body and mind.
So I have decided to detach myself from this feeling especially when it comes to daily life situations like talking to incompetent client service operators, phone company, bank workers, or anybody else who is supposed to give you the best service possible for the money you pay. Often it happens that these people who are usually on the other side of the line, instead of helping you, just create frustration by not acknowledging the problem their company has created for you.
In this situations I say to myself. “Thank you (God, Universe, Life… or whoever you may choose as your interlocutor) for making me so smart. Thank you for my education, my politeness and the fact that the job I do is actually helpful to someone.” It may not resolve the problem itself, but it will make you feel better for sure. If not, what’s the alternative? To stress out because some half machine/half person talked poorly to you on the phone? Why waste precious time?