Getting people to stop an upsetting conversation near you

[Venus193]

I'm not even sure how much slack you were cut if you cried over a death in the family.

Until I learned that Madison Avenue and Wall Street were so different I didn't even wear perfume or jewelry (beyond conservative earrings and a watch) to work.

[mindicherry]

Stand up, turn around, look them straight in the eye -

"Unless you want this conversation to be the spark of a 6pm news story, I suggest you take this conversation elsewhere"

(Of course, this will only work if you aren't in an "overly corporate" atmosphere where sarcasm/pointed comments are not allowed)

To me, it is no different than if they were standing near you talking about "n-words".  Some people will just never understand that their idiocy (be it racism, homophobia or animal cruelty) is just NOT a convo that they can have in public without consequences!