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So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

ChiTownScion

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,247
Location
The Great Pacific Northwest
Okey, this is a first. I'm eating breakfast down in the greasy-spoon this morning and the guy next to me at the counter has a cell phone propped up in front of him and is watching what appears to be some kind of recording of a violent, explosive military-themed video game with the sound on the phone turned up extra loud. No earphones, just the volume turned way up. I have never seen (a) a person watching a recording of a video game or (b) a person watching a phone with the sound turned way up in public like that. Is this a thing now that I have to start getting outraged about?

I have gotten to that stage where it's finally beginning to dawn that I don't have to get outraged about anything. A lot of things are left to simmer on a back burner or two, but full boiling outrage is too much of an energy expenditure most of the time. Life is too short.
 

2jakes

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,680
Location
Alamo Heights ☀️ Texas
I have gotten to that stage where it's finally beginning to dawn that I don't have to get outraged about anything. A lot of things are left to simmer on a back burner or two, but full boiling outrage is too much of an energy expenditure most of the time. Life is too short.

This is so true.

I came to the realization that I could
not control what others will say or do.
But I can control on how I deal with it.

Unless you provoke me with intent
to cause physical harm, I will not
allow myself to be outraged by actions
not directed towards me.
My health & state of mind is priority.
 
Messages
10,933
Location
My mother's basement
I have gotten to that stage where it's finally beginning to dawn that I don't have to get outraged about anything. A lot of things are left to simmer on a back burner or two, but full boiling outrage is too much of an energy expenditure most of the time. Life is too short.

Outrage has its place. Sometimes it's called for, even. But it is energy sapping, so saving it for when it is most called for would seem the healthiest approach.

Sometimes it's the most easily outraged who do and say the most outrageous things. Most the time, really -- projecting their own demons onto others. Alas, we humans are given to that.
 

2jakes

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,680
Location
Alamo Heights ☀️ Texas
Outrage has its place. Sometimes it's called for, even. But it is energy sapping, so saving it for when it is most called for would seem the healthiest approach.

Sometimes it's the most easily outraged who do and say the most outrageous things. Most the time, really -- projecting their own demons onto others. Alas, we humans are given to that.

I was editing a story for the 5 o'clock
news.
It was close to deadline and was
having difficulty finishing.

In the past when the pressure became
overwhelming I would take physical
action.
One time I slammed the telephone to
pieces when I heard negative news on
the recorded messages someone had made.

This time with the deadline approaching
and the story not complete, in anger
and frustration, I raised my fist to
pound the editing machine to oblivion.

But for some reason, I gently tapped
my fist on the side of the editing desk.
The anxiety and anger within me flushed
away immediately.
I felt refreshed and was able to finish in
time.

I learned that I could difuse an situation
under pressure by taking the action that
would help me instead of defeating me.

I saw Borg at a Wimbledon tennis match.
The anger towards the umpire was great.
He paused and tapped a ball gently in the direction of the frustration.
He then continued to win the match.

Perhaps someone here with a knowledge
of human behavior will explain better than me or
others will reply with a funny remark.
Go ahead, I got my tennis ball ready for you. :D
 
Last edited:

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,078
Location
London, UK
To me this is anything but trivial, however.... a very rude woman tried and failed to push her way past Herself on the tube last night. Herself's feet are playing up at the minute, so she was walking with a stick and badly needed a seat beside a pole. Said rude woman proceeded to stand on her foot. Only after we'd gotten off the tube, Herself informed me that this had been done with all the rude woman's weight, and very clearly was deliberate (I hadn't seen it happen). Just as well I didn't know, or I'd have yelled. Makes me very angry indeed that such selfish, spiteful, child-minded adults exist.
 

Bushman

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,138
Location
Joliet
When people let their kids run around a store. Had one of those parents in at work last night. Another customer even told her, "You need to control your kids, lady," but she laughed it off like it was some kind of a joke.
 
Messages
12,952
Location
Germany
When people let their kids run around a store. Had one of those parents in at work last night. Another customer even told her, "You need to control your kids, lady," but she laughed it off like it was some kind of a joke.

I was in my smalltowns Döner-shop, years ago. A young father with his little son came in. From the first second on, the boy "bustled about" and circuited the room-pillar next to me. Suddenly, he was disappeared. I turned around and saw, that he ran around in the back dining-area. Suddenly, he was back in the counter area and circuited the pillar next to me, again. But, the whole time, the boy interacted and looked "psychotic". I mean not "ADHD"-like! The boy just looked, as he wasn't realizing, where he was. Like "benighted", anyhow.

What's going on with these kids??
 

BlueTrain

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,073
As the line in the play "Bye Bye Birdie goes, "What's the matter with kids today?" The answer was "Nothing!"

The usual complaint today (Bye Bye Birdie is almost 55 years old) about kids is that they don't do anything. They don't go outside. They don't play games. They never get in fights. Etc., etc., etc.
 

BlueTrain

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,073
I rather like the word "verrückt" myself. There's also "übergeschnappt," but that's going overboard. I'm not familiar enough with the language, in spite of having actually lived in Germany, to know the usual usages.
 

BlueTrain

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,073
The term "Dummkopf" is sometimes used in the United States to mean exactly the same as it does in German. The meaning seems pretty obvious. I don't know how it came into being used in this country, although there are a few pockets of German speakers here and there (their German is not exactly the same as contemporary standard German). One hears it in movies and on TV. It might be considered a rather mild word, considering some words that I've heard used to mean the same thing, especially in the army.
 

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