Ladies, we've all seen "Mean Girls," right? I'm referring to the 2004 movie that captures Lindsey Lohan and Rachel McAdams in head-to-head catty combat. Although the movie might have made a few exaggerations about the extent to which high school girls will backstab each other, it was right about one thing: girls can be malicious and despicable to each other, and it isn't always something that they grow out of.

What happens to these mean girls when they are thrown out into the real world? They turn into mean, bitter women.

You might be thinking that there's no way that mature adult women could or would be so shallow to one another, but you'd be wrong. It's more common than you think, you just might not know about it because it's going on behind your back.

The second you walk away from the break room, some conniving witch might make a hushed comment about how you look like you've been eating more at lunch lately. Or maybe your encounter with a she-devil is not so subtle at all. Maybe you're thinking about the snotty, well-coifed woman who not only had the nerve to cut you off in traffic this morning, but then had the nerve to flip you the bird while she was at it.

You have two options: you could take the high road and ignore the mean woman, or you could take La Lohan's approach to the situation and get even.

If you choose to take the high road (i.e. not stooping to the level of the Miss Priss that it majorly ticking you off, here are a few suggestions.

• Instead of replying with a catty comment of your own, be overly friendly and sugary sweet. If a woman tries to make a rude comment about your weight, smile as big as you can and respond with "Would you like me to share one of my eight twinkies with you? I keep a whole box in my purse." Chances are, your opponent won't know how to respond to that.
• If you find yourself the victim of office gossip in general, show those women what they sound like in an exaggerated fashion. "Ohhhhh. Myyyyyyy. Goshhhhh! Did you hear about Amy? She totally stole Beth's Post-It notes! And, like, Sarah looks so horrible today, what did she do? Roll out of bed and head straight to work? Ahhh! I just totally love gossiping about everyone, don't you?!" You'll probably annoy the office chatterboxes, but maybe they'll think twice before opening their mouth about you next time.
• Are you the victim of a woman who's hell on wheels? Don't do anything rash after they almost push you off the road. The number to report non-emergency incidents is (314) 231-1212. And you might feel a teensy bit happy when you see the state trooper ahead of you pull the crazy lady over.
• Ignore the (ahem) female dog. Sounds simple enough, but often, catty women continue to be catty when they see that they're getting a reaction out of you. Turn the other cheek and maybe they'll move onto their next victim.

Have any of you encountered mean girls of your own out there? How did you respond? (If your response was a punch in the face, that not qualify as a constructive suggestion.)