Controlling anger is right thing to do

You just can’t go around being rude to others and expect to be respected, especially in a small town where everybody knows everybody else.

You may feel all empowered when you make a vulgar sign or tell someone what you’re thinking of them right then and there, but in the end your actions set off a chain of events which end up making you look like a jerk as the person you do it to tells someone who, in turn, tells someone else.

By the time the episode is repeated 100 times, you not only flashed a dirty sign or called someone a such and such, but you also pulled a gun on them, kicked their dog and ran off with their wife.

The worst place for all this ugliness is the roads where people feel they have a right to offer free driving lessons to others. You cut some people off in traffic and it’s like you’ve shot their momma as they go berserk, cussing and yelling and giving you the finger. The problem is, aside from being rude, when you do it here, people generally know who you are.

Years ago when I was a high school punk, I got cut off in traffic in my Camaro Z28 as some old guy nearly ran me off the road. In that moment of fury, I gave him the one-finger salute only to make eye contact and realize it was a friend of the family. Ouch. Talk about feeling small.

Some guy messes up not meaning any harm and here I am being the jerk because I can’t control myself. Long story short, the guy never told on me and that was a lesson learned, the lesson being to treat others like you’d want your mother and father treated.

Would you want some young punk waving their middle finger at them in traffic? No. Then, since we are playing by the Golden Rule here, maybe we should check our anger for a few seconds and realize that while road incidents are generally the result of someone not paying attention, such road near misses are accidents. If anything, you should be happy you were fortunate enough to avoid an accident. It’s OK to get mad. It’s not OK to act on your anger.

Then there’s restaurants and stores where the little miss perfect in people come out. People will sit at the table or stand in line at a store and huff and puff like they’re the most important person in the world, angry that some waitress or some clerk isn’t serving the little princess fast enough. These are the same people who think nothing of standing in line for an hour at a ballgame or concert but you let them wait five minutes for a burger and it’s lights out. They’ll show that waitress who’s supporting two kids because the dead-beat dad has run off and withhold that whole dollar because their fries were cold. Be proud of yourself there Donald Trump, you showed her.

Meanwhile while you’re huffing and puffing, folks are sitting around watching what a jerk you are, and trust me, people are going to be quick to tell whoever will listen how ugly you behaved in public. Plus, the person you’re acting ugly toward is likely kin to someone you know, work with, go to church with, or maybe even are friends with.

Hey, if you want to be a jerk, have at it. Just don’t expect to have a good reputation in your town and don’t be surprised when you see people treating you differently. Oh, it’s easy for people to claim they don’t care what people think. That’s the popular thing to claim to make you look all rough and tough. But, in the end, the mere fact they would even say that tells me they do care what people think.

Duane Sherrill is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].