Anger Management

I wrote this just over a year ago for the La Salle Old Boys Yahoo group (Lasoba)... I had just turned 29 at the time, so it sorts of reflects my current way of thinking. Thought I'd share it with you guys...

***************

People would say I'm a very pleasant person. In fact, people say that I'm down right charming. I am always 'happy'.

I try to keep it that way because it affects everybody's mood. If you are always cheerful, then everybody around you becomes cheerful as well.

But there are certain situations where I totally change into my alter ego... "The Angry Driver"...

As soon as I start driving, I don't take crap from anybody... you cut me off, you're dead... you cut queue, you're dead... you tailgate, you're dead...

It's a very bad thing... my blood pressure goes up... I am always angry... I'll pick a fight with every asshole that I find on the road... I get overly brave, in a stupid way...

And then, I saw the light...

This happened over a week ago... I gave my colleagues a ride to the train station after work. There was construction on the road so everybody's got to merge into the lane that I was in. I don't have a problem with letting people in, as long as they do it in a nice way. Suddenly, this Mercedes comes from behind and bullies his way in front of me, pushing me out of my lane. Obviously, HE MUST DIE!! So in situations like this, I would make it as hard as possible for him to move. In other words, the only way he can move forward is to get his car scratched on my side view mirror (obviously I've done this before).

After some creative maneuvering on his part, he manages to get free without scratching his car... later down the road, he slows down, and when I pass him, his window was open and he was saying something to me... I couldn't hear him because of the wind, but I assumed that he was continuing his quest to become an asshole.

Anyway, I drop off my colleagues at the train station and I see him parked behind me... does this guy really want a beating? He was an old man! Is he serious? Now this got me curious... if he wanted to fight, he would have come up to me... instead, he waited in his car....

So, I went up to him and asked him what his problem was? He said a few things, but what really stuck in my mind was "why are you so angry?"

And that got me thinking... why am I so angry??... in any other situation in my life, I would have given the other person the benefit of the doubt and thought nothing more of the situation... but when I'm driving, I totally cannot manage the anger... and there was no point to it. I don't gain anything from being angry... I just lose, in terms of my health...

So right there, at the side of the road, I decided I didn't want to be angry when driving anymore... so I appologised to him for losing my cool... I don't think I've ever appologised for anything that fast! ;)

I felt better... I felt free...

So why did this guy go through all this trouble, probably risking his life... I could have had a gun and walked up to his car and blown his head off...

Well, after feeling all better, I asked him his name... turned out to be one of the alumni from the high school I used to go to... he said that he recognised me, that we've actually met before... I can't recall... I just know him by name.

Now for the moral of the story... we've all got something that really pisses us off... whether it's driving, politicians, the economy, terrorists, your boss... but what's the point of getting all riled up about it? If you were to keep your emotions out of it, then you'll probably be able to come up with a way to solve your problem, instead of just complaining about it... you end up without high blood pressure, and you will have contributed to society...

So chill next time...