The best way to handle unhappy people, that's why I think they may be unreasonable, is to kill them with kindness. If someone is inpatient in a line, I go out of my way to see something that I can compliment them about. It may be a cute hat or well behaved child. The mood switches gears and for that moment, they forget why some small inconvenience annoyed them so much. For the most part, it will divert their attention and I've had some wonderful conversations with total strangers that seemed to be having a bad day.
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