I don't think that you'll ever get anyone to admit that their pipe is a social prop. This is the age of binary thought. Even admitting that maybe sometimes, men especially are to afraid someone would accuse them of not being a "real" pipe smoker.
But, in instances of my daughters coming to ma with arguments where they are frantic about something between them, I will take out my pipe, make a halting motion with my hand, load my pipe, and take great care to do a ritualized ignition with the greatest of care to get them to wait, wait... Wait till they've calmed down. And, 90% of the time, after they have reflected upon the "thing" that had them so upset, sorts itself out in their minds, and I don't have to mitigate.
But, I am not a hand talker anyways. My wife is, and she uses a lot of gestures when she speaks. Me, I usually just chose as few words as possible to make a conversation go away, unless I am holding court after dinner with friends, and I have a tale to tell. Then, maybe I do puff a few times to emphasize a dramatic pause in the story. But, for the most part, I hate having conversations while trying to enjoy my pipe.