Generally speaking, I'm not prone to outbursts of emotion. This is particularly true of anger, since I try hard not to let my temper get the best of me. Don't get me wrong, I get angry just like everyone else does, but I try hard to jump to that particular emotion. I'm not even sure why I do this, to be honest, but it's one of those things that I've always done. Funnily enough, though, this particular trait has led to some awfully amusing exchanges.
First of all, I have this habit of verifying whether I should be upset, or how upset I should be, at a particular turn of events. It's my way of making sure I'm not overreacting, really. Sure, I've got my natural instinct for whether I should be angry, but I will solicit advice from others to keep myself from doing anything unnecessary. If you remember those old TBS commercials where someone would call in to verify if something was funny, it's a little bit like that (side note: the only good link I could find was for a set of old movie promos for a movie that wasn't even good, so I'm skipping the links this time).
As a result of this habit, though, I've gotten some funny responses to my stories. Remember, these are the same people that managed to make me laugh ridiculously hard after a break up. They've all got a way with words and they're not afraid to use it. So far, I think my favorite was when one of my friends wanted to express that she thought I dealt with the causes of this anger fairly well. There are a bunch of ways to word this, right? You could say something like, "good job not letting it get to you" or even something about a "level head." In that case, I'd thank you for the compliment and we'd move the conversation forward. Nope, not this friend. Instead, she said, "leave the moral compass at home, boy scout." Man, I was laughing for a while after that. Heck, I'm not sure that there is another valid response to that statement.
Incidentally, that last comment hints at the best part of this anger consultation: people encouraging me to get more angry. I mean, it was bound to happen, right? If it's possible for me to overreact, it's also possible for me to under-react. And when that happens, it's sheer comedy. I've had someone say to me that, "sometimes you just need to do some violence to get it out of your system. I say you burn [some item]." I've had mild-mannered friends offer to go on rampages on my behalf, and I've even had people scheme up ways that I should take out my soon-to-be-increased levels of anger.
To this day, though, my favorite instance of this has come from a conversation with my brother and sister-in-law. Rather than give you the play-by-play, I'll just let you appreciate it in all its glory:
Me: "I can't exactly get mad about that, that's not fair. The alternative is not being able to pay rent."
Sister-in-law: "What? Yes, you can."
Brother: "Yeah, [spouse] gets mad at me for no good reason all the time. That's life."
After everyone stopped laughing, I realized that this justified me getting angry even if the other person had a valid reason for their actions. Talk about having your cake and eating it, too. Can you see why this is my favorite example of encouraging anger? Though, for the record, I have yet to use this rationale to justify being mad at someone else.
All in all, though, this whole anger thing has made me laugh quite a bit. Ironic, no?
First of all, I have this habit of verifying whether I should be upset, or how upset I should be, at a particular turn of events. It's my way of making sure I'm not overreacting, really. Sure, I've got my natural instinct for whether I should be angry, but I will solicit advice from others to keep myself from doing anything unnecessary. If you remember those old TBS commercials where someone would call in to verify if something was funny, it's a little bit like that (side note: the only good link I could find was for a set of old movie promos for a movie that wasn't even good, so I'm skipping the links this time).
As a result of this habit, though, I've gotten some funny responses to my stories. Remember, these are the same people that managed to make me laugh ridiculously hard after a break up. They've all got a way with words and they're not afraid to use it. So far, I think my favorite was when one of my friends wanted to express that she thought I dealt with the causes of this anger fairly well. There are a bunch of ways to word this, right? You could say something like, "good job not letting it get to you" or even something about a "level head." In that case, I'd thank you for the compliment and we'd move the conversation forward. Nope, not this friend. Instead, she said, "leave the moral compass at home, boy scout." Man, I was laughing for a while after that. Heck, I'm not sure that there is another valid response to that statement.
Incidentally, that last comment hints at the best part of this anger consultation: people encouraging me to get more angry. I mean, it was bound to happen, right? If it's possible for me to overreact, it's also possible for me to under-react. And when that happens, it's sheer comedy. I've had someone say to me that, "sometimes you just need to do some violence to get it out of your system. I say you burn [some item]." I've had mild-mannered friends offer to go on rampages on my behalf, and I've even had people scheme up ways that I should take out my soon-to-be-increased levels of anger.
To this day, though, my favorite instance of this has come from a conversation with my brother and sister-in-law. Rather than give you the play-by-play, I'll just let you appreciate it in all its glory:
Me: "I can't exactly get mad about that, that's not fair. The alternative is not being able to pay rent."
Sister-in-law: "What? Yes, you can."
Brother: "Yeah, [spouse] gets mad at me for no good reason all the time. That's life."
After everyone stopped laughing, I realized that this justified me getting angry even if the other person had a valid reason for their actions. Talk about having your cake and eating it, too. Can you see why this is my favorite example of encouraging anger? Though, for the record, I have yet to use this rationale to justify being mad at someone else.
All in all, though, this whole anger thing has made me laugh quite a bit. Ironic, no?
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