I admit to having a bit of a temper but it takes a lot; a whole lot, to set really me off.
Even in traffic, when someone cuts me off or tail gates me, I (usually) just smile and wave or blow them a kiss! I call them Sweetie. I do this because it makes me feel better about myself and because I know it really pi$$es them off and my failure to lower myself to their nastiness probably ruined their already bad day and I’m not going to allow anyone to ruin my day or raise my already high blood pressure – it’s just not worth it in most cases.
I was in a liquor store the other day (just to buy a Mega-millions ticket) when some guy at the counter was yelling and screaming and cursing at the clerk accusing him of ripping him off. He was all red in the face and cursing up a storm, saying stuff like “Every time I come here you people try to rip me off!”, “I’m never buying anything here again!” Then he went into a tirade about the clerk not being able to speak English and if “You can’t speak English and you can’t count you shouldn’t be here.”
OK, so I could sort of sympathize with the guy’s frustration but he was so off the hook and so out of control with rage he actually frightened me a bit so that I walked to the back of the store until he was gone.
The guy was buying a box full of liquor and I couldn’t help but think, “Good dude, go home and pour your self a stiff one and chill out.”
I heard tires screeching the parking lot right after he left and I thought, I hope in his rage, this guy doesn’t kill somebody on his way home. It was unbelievable. If he was angry at the liquor store, why not ask for the manager or owner? Why not just not go there anymore? Why drive like a manic and take out his frustration on other drivers or pedestrians who didn’t do anything to him?
The guy at the counter was Asian and he actually spoke pretty good English. I bought my lottery ticket and said something like, “Having a bad day?” He looked rather pale in the face and tried to smile and said “Yes”. And I said, “It’s OK. The guy was a major jerk.” He said to me (in perfect English) “Thank You. I hope you win.” Unfortunately I didn’t win but just showing a bit of human kindness to another human was better for me than winning the lottery.
It’s OK to get angry and to express anger and frustration sometimes but it’s a different thing to be a rage-a-holic and an A-hole.
I managed a convenience store a long time ago and I got cursed out by a few of these idiots over the stupidest stuff. One time a woman complained because the creamer she put in her coffee curdled. I apologized profusely and offered her a fresh cup and offered to open a new box of creamer from the fridge. Her thanks to me was to throw the cup of hot coffee in my face and curse me out and then she stormed out and drove away. I was dumbfounded. I quit a short time after.