Rulebook pedants nearly killed our game night in Denver

Last Saturday at a friend's place in Denver, we cracked open a new worker placement game and one guy kept stopping play to argue over a single line about turn order during a tie. His reading was technically correct, but the spirit of the rule was obvious and it dragged a 90 minute game into 2.5 hours. I finally said we'd use his interpretation just to keep moving, then we house-ruled it after session for future plays. Now I check the BGG forums before buying anything with vague wording, because one pedant can sink a whole evening. Am I wrong to prefer pacing over exact rules enforcement, or has anyone else benched a player for this? I'd rather lose a rule fight than lose four friends.