I have been on a break from posting. I think I only have one in August so far. But I have found something to post about while still caught in a cycle of too much work and not the best attitude—this is the perfect time to share more “Darkside” stories. I don’t have many. =)
But first, I think I was born to be mild-mannered and diplomatic and 99.9% of the time I am. Most people can’t even imagine me getting angry. But of course we all get angry and under the right circumstances we all display some level of a temper (I'm setting up my defense here). While pushing my buttons today is a difficult thing to do—much harder than when I was a teenager, on occasion people do still stumble onto the code (0,0,0, destruct--Star Trek and Futurama fans will recognize that).
Like the fellow who decided driving 5 miles over the speed limit was too slow for him. So he passed me, crossing a double yellow line, while we were approaching the top of a hill. The on-coming metro bus swerved into my lane to avoid hitting the jerk. The thing looked like a 20-ton monster bearing down on me. Thankfully I had room to swerve out of the way (as the jerk sped off). That made me mad. But, I told myself I should just let it go, no one got hurt--following him would be crazy. Then as I pulled into my destination (a gas station) I spotted the jerk buying gas. The universe presented me with a teachable moment, so I HAD to discuss with him what happened. At first he shrugged and smuggly said, “Nothing I can do about it.” He was wrong--and to my ears it sounded like he was telling me to "blank"-off. By the time I finished yelling at him he had: apologized for almost getting me killed; admitted he was a moron; and promised that he had learned his lesson and would never, ever do anything like that again. I felt good about being able to help him grow as a person. ;P
But me getting mad isn’t always extreme, it can come in small doses. One Sunday my wife spotted a stray dog at the edge of our backyard. She wanted to go get it, but we were late for a gathering. (We take in strays all the time, so don’t get the wrong idea.) As I encouraged her away from our sliding door, we noticed the dog’s owner walking up. I started to unlock the door, but my wife stopped me. She said, “Oh no you don’t, I see that gleam in your eyes and the little smile. We don't have time, we're late, remember!!!” She claims that when I get just a little mad (and have a plan to share it) about things like a guy letting his dog run loose in the neighborhood, I get a certain little smile on my face…one that people don’t understand until I start talking to them. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it probably is
I have a few more stories (Child; Teenager; Adult; and Nancy-boy) to share and I would love to get your opinions on whether I acted appropriately for the situation or perhaps went too far (especially "the nancy-boy" incident). Was my response "justified" by the provocation? I say YES, but it's easy to rationalize our own behavior ("I don't think anything I've ever done was wrong!"). ;P
PS - This reminds me of one of my favorite exchanges:
The Hulk: Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry!
Villian: I don't like you now!
oh this one is tough...i believe it's appropriate that you address issues head on. but me being the non-confrontational type, i just let it pass. i'll let the civil courts do the heavy lifting jk jk.
ReplyDeletei applaud you for your diplomacy although "yelling" at the offender doesn't sound too diplomatic. tell me if i misinterpreted that. have a good one!!!
@Nico: You misinterpreted. This was an example of the 0.1% of the time that I'm not diplomatic.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the dog one, but definitely that one with the driver is justified! He could have caused a serious accident! I hope he never was so stupid again.
ReplyDeleteI've already started to worry about you, cause you've been scarce on the Net lately, just wanted to write an e-mail to you, but when I opened my dashboard I saw a post and was so happy XDDD What a good start into the last working day of the week!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine you being evil Rick, that is just not possible! :P But everybody has a dark side which comes to the surface from time to time, I guess.
Have a nice weekend!
Now I forgot to give you my opinion, haha! I think the driver one was totally justified, such people need to be advised so that they never do such dangerous things again! Careless behaviour is always dangerous :(
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about the second one, but the first one was sensible I believe. I hope he has learned his lesson from you and won't do that again!
ReplyDeleteOh i blew up a lot in my younger days. Then it made me proud but as I grew older, it made me feel guilt every time after the explosions. Nowadays, I'm turning the corner ... still have my bad days though. End of the day, it is still possible to say our peace with boiling over.
ReplyDeleteThat dude probably knew his mistake all along! Hahhaa.
ReplyDeleteI often don't realize how mad I am until I actually open my mouth, so most times I just simmer and let things slide. (Unless it's something major, of course, then I'll be all ghetto on a bitch. lol.)
It's good to take a break sometimes : ) It's like a job, we all need our off days but good to have you back. I would love to find a stray baby lab puppy on the streets one day!
ReplyDeletewww.mrschong.com
i am usually pretty good and friendly but some people manage to push the right buttons and make my hulk come out too... my bf hates it and says i should control my temper more all the time hahaha
ReplyDeleteLife may not be the party we hoped for,
ReplyDeletebut while we are here we might as well dance.
Usually I'm pretty friendly with people. My friends automatically can tell when I'm angry at something. My face tends to give away all my emotions. Try as I may though, I do let my emotions take over; so I can be a bit irrational at times =\
ReplyDeleteI do have to say, you had much control for not punching that guy in the face when he said that there was nothing he could do about it. I think that's so disrespectful.
Anyway, I really like reading these, so I do hope you have more Darkside Stories!
I don't think the issue was so much whether or not you were justified in "educating" the driver. It was more an issue of whether it was safe to do so. I cringed when I read what you had done, picturing the driver going into a full-blown case of road rage and attacking you at the gas station. It wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened. The driver was clearly in the wrong but I think you took a huge risk in letting him know it. I am curious as to what your wife thought??
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for telling the moron off and getting him to apologise, admit and promise? How did you do that, Rick? Please share with me. Kh and I need to learn a trick of 2 from you. I must say you're very brave to confront that driver. Does he look very approachable? There are cases where things went out of hand, a fight broke up, someone ending up injured or even killed due to rage. While I think that you definitely did the right thing, we should be careful when settling such matters. That said, I'm quite sure you did size him up as well as analysed the situation before you did what you had to do.
ReplyDeleteI didn't quite understand the dog story so I can't comment on that. I gathered that you wanted to let the dog in so as to get its owner anxious or something? Pardon my ignorance.
Do share more stories of your alter ego -- The Evil Rick.
"I felt good about being able to help him grow as a person" totally cracked me up! XD
ReplyDeletehehehhe! wives knows their husband best than them(husbands) knowing themeselves:)
ReplyDeleteI like the last conversation- the hulk and the villain:)