Are people getting... angrier?

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

Now we will have to listen to ole' RainbowWarrior76 go on and on about golden showers.

Jim ought to appreciate this extra bit of information I neglected in the prior post: She must be the "Queen" Naked Mole Rat. Urine of the other females doesn't do diddly.

See how useful it is to have your 9 year old's "Totally Gross" books handy?

[Lion]

Lisa, that THING is butt ugly!!!

[ijen0311]

Originally Posted by Lisa

I'm telling ya, the female Naked Mole Rat will solve all of your problems. Teach her to ride around on your shoulder and urinate at will on the perpetrators. They'll not bother you again, and female perps may end up infertile! (at least, it works on other mole rats.)

hmm... he smells like crab potato chips and tuna

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by ijen0311

I took a trip to the mall today.

While pulling into the parking garage, I made a left turn in front of a man and woman in a pick up truck. After almost running into me, they yelled at me and gave me the finger. Silly me, I thought they would actually stop at their stop sign

Went into the mall, over to Gap. Stood in front of the counter to make a return. A moment later, another customer approached to make a return as well. Sales associate came over and asked who was first. Before I could open my mouth she said "me" and threw her stuff on the counter. When I looked at her, she gave me a dirty look.

Next I go to the food court. While paying for my food, there is a middle-aged woman with a younger man and woman. They were waiting for their food. Cashier motions me to be rung up, and I point at them to make sure they are not waiting to pay. She rings me up, and while my card is going through I reach behind the older woman for some red pepper (I didn't say excuse me because they were talking and I really wasn't in her way). The young woman with them looks at me and says, "stupid b!tch." (To be honest, I really really wanted to say something to her. But I was good.)

What is going on with our society?
Can't we all have some basic patience and kindness towards our fellow man? Isn't there enough anger in the world?

I'm going to take this from a resource management point of view.

For one-off encounters such as these, what gain is there to be made from engaging with such individuals? To be blunt, they're just a waste of time and doing anything with them would simply chew up precious time and energy that could otherwise be spent on people I actually give a damn about.

As a much younger man, I used to get annoyed about creatures of such bovine or porcine orientation, but that was changed thanks to a friend of mine. Andjar was an Indonesian student who arrived in Melbourne at the same time as I did, and in the hostel where we all started out, he was the unruffled eye at the centre of a hurricane of undergrads. Anyway, he observed, "Well, if it wasn't for people like that, we wouldn't look as good as we do, would we?". As much as flies and worms, such individual have their place in the big scheme of things.

If anything, such people are amusing. A case in point happened on a flight I took from Singapore to Melbourne. This was a regular commute for me at the time, to the extent that the staff would often give me a free upgrade from economy to business or first class. On this trip, I had a chat with the flight steward upon boarding and he flatly refused to let me move up to business class. It was his right to do so, so I made nothing of it.

When I got to my seat, I'd found that the last passenger had left it reclined. An angry young woman behind me snapped at me to put the seat up, and I shrugged and did so. In the meantime, a plan was forming.

The moment the plane levelled off, I put my seat all the way back. The woman behind me reached over and tapped me on the head. I did not respond, and when she leaned over the back of my seat to demand that I put the seat up, I replied that I was well within my rights to put the seat back, and she sat back down and fumed.

When the meals arrived, she once again demanded that I put the seat up. This time, an older man (who I expect was the woman's father) asked in a very reasonable tone if I could put the seat up for the duration of the meal. No problems - I put the seat up, had a few bites of my meal and put it back down.

This time the woman really hit the roof. She started ranting and raving, and threw her bread and butter at me. When I still did not respond, she did the one thing I wanted her to do - she called for the attendant, and lo and behold, it was the same fellow who declined to let me into business class.

When the attendant asked me to put my seat up, I replied, "I'd be more than happy to, but so far, this woman has very rudely tapped me on the head and thrown her food - you can see that I've finished my bread and butter, and the stuff lying in the footwell is what she's thrown over the back of the seat. Now, if I could get a simple apology from her, this will all be easily resolved".

What the woman did next could not have been better had I scripted it myself. She held her glass of wine over my head and said, "You want this for an apology?". I looked at the steward, shrugged and said, "Looks like air rage to me.".

The steward went pale and scurried off. Two minutes later, he came back and said, "Excuse me, sir, would you mind terribly if I moved you to business class?'. I said I'd be more than happy to move, grabbed my gear, plonked into business and re-ordered my meal.

Over dinner, I scribbled a note to the woman, detailing exactly how she did precisely what she needed to in order to get me upgraded. I told her that I was having much nicer food and wine, thanks to her obnoxiousness and stupidity. I then got an attendant to deliver the letter to her just as the plane was landing - it was the same fellow who I spoke to when I boarded.

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by Lisa

I'm telling ya, the female Naked Mole Rat will solve all of your problems. Teach her to ride around on your shoulder and urinate at will on the perpetrators. They'll not bother you again, and female perps may end up infertile! (at least, it works on other mole rats.)

Even better, tell the perpetrators that you're wearing a mirror on your shoulder.

[ijen0311]

Great story James

People are so wacky! Who throws bread and butter?!?!?!

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

I'm going to take this from a resource management point of view.

For one-off encounters such as these, what gain is there to be made from engaging with such individuals? To be blunt, they're just a waste of time and doing anything with them would simply chew up precious time and energy that could otherwise be spent on people I actually give a damn about.

As a much younger man, I used to get annoyed about creatures of such bovine or porcine orientation, but that was changed thanks to a friend of mine. Andjar was an Indonesian student who arrived in Melbourne at the same time as I did, and in the hostel where we all started out, he was the unruffled eye at the centre of a hurricane of undergrads. Anyway, he observed, "Well, if it wasn't for people like that, we wouldn't look as good as we do, would we?". As much as flies and worms, such individual have their place in the big scheme of things.

If anything, such people are amusing. A case in point happened on a flight I took from Singapore to Melbourne. This was a regular commute for me at the time, to the extent that the staff would often give me a free upgrade from economy to business or first class. On this trip, I had a chat with the flight steward upon boarding and he flatly refused to let me move up to business class. It was his right to do so, so I made nothing of it.

When I got to my seat, I'd found that the last passenger had left it reclined. An angry young woman behind me snapped at me to put the seat up, and I shrugged and did so. In the meantime, a plan was forming.

The moment the plane levelled off, I put my seat all the way back. The woman behind me reached over and tapped me on the head. I did not respond, and when she leaned over the back of my seat to demand that I put the seat up, I replied that I was well within my rights to put the seat back, and she sat back down and fumed.

When the meals arrived, she once again demanded that I put the seat up. This time, an older man (who I expect was the woman's father) asked in a very reasonable tone if I could put the seat up for the duration of the meal. No problems - I put the seat up, had a few bites of my meal and put it back down.

This time the woman really hit the roof. She started ranting and raving, and threw her bread and butter at me. When I still did not respond, she did the one thing I wanted her to do - she called for the attendant, and lo and behold, it was the same fellow who declined to let me into business class.

When the attendant asked me to put my seat up, I replied, "I'd be more than happy to, but so far, this woman has very rudely tapped me on the head and thrown her food - you can see that I've finished my bread and butter, and the stuff lying in the footwell is what she's thrown over the back of the seat. Now, if I could get a simple apology from her, this will all be easily resolved".

What the woman did next could not have been better had I scripted it myself. She held her glass of wine over my head and said, "You want this for an apology?". I looked at the steward, shrugged and said, "Looks like air rage to me.".

The steward went pale and scurried off. Two minutes later, he came back and said, "Excuse me, sir, would you mind terribly if I moved you to business class?'. I said I'd be more than happy to move, grabbed my gear, plonked into business and re-ordered my meal.

Over dinner, I scribbled a note to the woman, detailing exactly how she did precisely what she needed to in order to get me upgraded. I told her that I was having much nicer food and wine, thanks to her obnoxiousness and stupidity. I then got an attendant to deliver the letter to her just as the plane was landing - it was the same fellow who I spoke to when I boarded.

Ah.... how I love a good Gedankening.

[Chozn1]

I'm gonna catch hell for this, but my in-laws live in Jacksonville and when I visit that place I put my armor on... as in I sit on ready for whatever some yahoo throws my way. Maybe it's just me, but I have had several run-ins with people around there. I'm afraid I'm as type A as they come and haven't learned the patience of Gedanken yet as I'm only 28, but I really look forward to that day.

[ijen0311]

Originally Posted by Chozn1

I'm gonna catch hell for this, but my in-laws live in Jacksonville and when I visit that place I put my armor on... as in I sit on ready for whatever some yahoo throws my way. Maybe it's just me, but I have had several run-ins with people around there. I'm afraid I'm as type A as they come and the first guy would have gotten flashed with a Tomcat .32, the second lady would have been put in her place, and the last lady would have been told she was fat whether she really was or not. I'm not "good"

Next time you are here, escort me to the mall please!

[redshirt1957]

James, to be so wise at such a young age. Tip of the hat to you my friend.

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Ah.... how I love a good Gedankening.

Hey, don't get mad, get amused - and if you can profit from it, all the better.

My classmates (especially the ones who wanted to do counselling or clinical psych) used to say that I was the dark side of the Force - I wonder why?

[away36]

Originally Posted by Jimbits76

Angry people annoy the hell out of me.

They are so rude and get so irate and it's a real human failing to not to be able to control your temper.

In fact when people get angry it annoys me so much that I usually beat them half to death with a tyre iron whilst screaming a loud unidentifiable continous roar.



J

You're right....those meds give you MAJOR hallucinations, bud!

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

James, to be so wise at such a young age. Tip of the hat to you my friend.

If I were honest, I'd admit that it wasn't so much a case of having wisdom than of having, at a tender young age, had a drill sergeant impress upon me the virtue of not firing till I saw the whites of the opponent's eyes.

Then again, I'm not honest. Thanks for the compliment, Joe!

[JJ Irani]

That's a great story up there, James.

What is so remarkable about the whole thing is the way you held your composure over all the raving and ranting of that lunatic of a woman. Not many would have held their cool like you did.

Well, at least you reaped the benefits of your self-control!!

Good one, buddy!!

[Jimbits76]

The throwing of the bread and butter did it for me...what a futile and embarrassingly pathetic gesture.

Great stuff!

J

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

That's a great story up there, James.

What is so remarkable about the whole thing is the way you held your composure over all the raving and ranting of that lunatic of a woman. Not many would have held their cool like you did.

Well, at least you reaped the benefits of your self-control!!

Good one, buddy!!

Uhh, JJ, you've put the horse behind the cart here. The moment the girl first snapped at me to put the seat up, I figured that I could get an upgrade by creating an air-rage incident. From that point, all I did was keep pressing her buttons and getting her to raise the stakes, so the composure was just a key part of a game in which the outcome had already been determined.

[Taffi Abernathy]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

Hey, don't get mad, get amused - and if you can profit from it, all the better.

My classmates (especially the ones who wanted to do counselling or clinical psych) used to say that I was the dark side of the Force - I wonder why?

I have a feeling this "dark side" (aka your incorrigibility) is a large part of your charm. You know what "they" say, better blatant than latent. Work it!

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by Taffi Abernathy

I have a feeling this "dark side" (aka your incorrigibility) is a large part of your charm. You know what "they" say, better blatant than latent. Work it!

Well Faith, you'd know as well as I do that our arcane skill is a double-edged sword - I just tend to use both edges on a fairly equal basis.

[Taffi Abernathy]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

Well Faith, you'd know as well as I do that our arcane skill is a double-edged sword - I just tend to use both edges on a fairly equal basis.

So true, and may I add, nicely articulated.

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by Taffi Abernathy

So true, and may I add, nicely articulated.

It's refreshing to talk to someone with objectivity about our profession - my classmates used to break out in a rash when I observed the thin line between ourselves and con artists.

[rubysky360]

I noticed the same thing here too... it might have to do with the economy??!

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

I'm going to take this from a resource management point of view.

For one-off encounters such as these, what gain is there to be made from engaging with such individuals? To be blunt, they're just a waste of time and doing anything with them would simply chew up precious time and energy that could otherwise be spent on people I actually give a damn about.

As a much younger man, I used to get annoyed about creatures of such bovine or porcine orientation, but that was changed thanks to a friend of mine. Andjar was an Indonesian student who arrived in Melbourne at the same time as I did, and in the hostel where we all started out, he was the unruffled eye at the centre of a hurricane of undergrads. Anyway, he observed, "Well, if it wasn't for people like that, we wouldn't look as good as we do, would we?". As much as flies and worms, such individual have their place in the big scheme of things.

If anything, such people are amusing. A case in point happened on a flight I took from Singapore to Melbourne. This was a regular commute for me at the time, to the extent that the staff would often give me a free upgrade from economy to business or first class. On this trip, I had a chat with the flight steward upon boarding and he flatly refused to let me move up to business class. It was his right to do so, so I made nothing of it.

When I got to my seat, I'd found that the last passenger had left it reclined. An angry young woman behind me snapped at me to put the seat up, and I shrugged and did so. In the meantime, a plan was forming.

The moment the plane levelled off, I put my seat all the way back. The woman behind me reached over and tapped me on the head. I did not respond, and when she leaned over the back of my seat to demand that I put the seat up, I replied that I was well within my rights to put the seat back, and she sat back down and fumed.

When the meals arrived, she once again demanded that I put the seat up. This time, an older man (who I expect was the woman's father) asked in a very reasonable tone if I could put the seat up for the duration of the meal. No problems - I put the seat up, had a few bites of my meal and put it back down.

This time the woman really hit the roof. She started ranting and raving, and threw her bread and butter at me. When I still did not respond, she did the one thing I wanted her to do - she called for the attendant, and lo and behold, it was the same fellow who declined to let me into business class.

When the attendant asked me to put my seat up, I replied, "I'd be more than happy to, but so far, this woman has very rudely tapped me on the head and thrown her food - you can see that I've finished my bread and butter, and the stuff lying in the footwell is what she's thrown over the back of the seat. Now, if I could get a simple apology from her, this will all be easily resolved".

What the woman did next could not have been better had I scripted it myself. She held her glass of wine over my head and said, "You want this for an apology?". I looked at the steward, shrugged and said, "Looks like air rage to me.".

The steward went pale and scurried off. Two minutes later, he came back and said, "Excuse me, sir, would you mind terribly if I moved you to business class?'. I said I'd be more than happy to move, grabbed my gear, plonked into business and re-ordered my meal.

Over dinner, I scribbled a note to the woman, detailing exactly how she did precisely what she needed to in order to get me upgraded. I told her that I was having much nicer food and wine, thanks to her obnoxiousness and stupidity. I then got an attendant to deliver the letter to her just as the plane was landing - it was the same fellow who I spoke to when I boarded.

Nearly a perfect ten. Toying with lesser mortals, but your vanity showed through at the end, I am taking marks off for that

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by ijen0311

I took a trip to the mall today.

While pulling into the parking garage, I made a left turn in front of a man and woman in a pick up truck. After almost running into me, they yelled at me and gave me the finger. Silly me, I thought they would actually stop at their stop sign

Went into the mall, over to Gap. Stood in front of the counter to make a return. A moment later, another customer approached to make a return as well. Sales associate came over and asked who was first. Before I could open my mouth she said "me" and threw her stuff on the counter. When I looked at her, she gave me a dirty look.

Next I go to the food court. While paying for my food, there is a middle-aged woman with a younger man and woman. They were waiting for their food. Cashier motions me to be rung up, and I point at them to make sure they are not waiting to pay. She rings me up, and while my card is going through I reach behind the older woman for some red pepper (I didn't say excuse me because they were talking and I really wasn't in her way). The young woman with them looks at me and says, "stupid b!tch." (To be honest, I really really wanted to say something to her. But I was good.)

What is going on with our society?
Can't we all have some basic patience and kindness towards our fellow man? Isn't there enough anger in the world?

I thought that was just the good old American charm?

But yeah, I'd say the economy has people in a worse mood than usual.

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by jdc

Nearly a perfect ten. Toying with lesser mortals, but your vanity showed through at the end, I am taking marks off for that

Oh come on, Martin - how much less fun would it have been if I'd left her to conclude that the outcome was due to pure chance, rather than having been engineered from the get-go?

[Carolina]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

Oh come on, Martin - how much less fun would it have been if I'd left her to conclude that the outcome was due to pure chance, rather than having been engineered from the get-go?

Remind me never to sit behind you on an aiplane!

[Bisquitlips]

Leah and I went to the mall a couple of weeks ago for the first time in about a year.

We do not enter those "places" without a good reason for exactly the reasons you describe!

The mall used to be such a lovely place to go, but with all the ass holes there now we refuse!

Can't be bothered!

I hope all the mall managers read this thread!

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

Oh come on, Martin - how much less fun would it have been if I'd left her to conclude that the outcome was due to pure chance, rather than having been engineered from the get-go?

I suppose the artist in addition to admiring his work has a right to have it publicly displayed

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by Carolina

Remind me never to sit behind you on an aiplane!

Ma'am, ah ain't never kilt no one who wasn't beggin' for a killin'!

[Gedanken]

Originally Posted by jdc

I suppose the artist in addition to admiring his work has a right to have it publicly displayed

*Indignant tone* Well, of course! Did David end up in a lift lobby? Did the Sistine Chapel get its ceiling Duluxed over? Does the Mona Lisa hang next to Dogs Playing Poker? Did Benvenuto Cellini ........

[jdc]

Originally Posted by Gedanken

*Indignant tone* Well, of course! Did David end up in a lift lobby? Did the Sistine Chapel get its ceiling Duluxed over? Does the Mona Lisa hang next to Dogs Playing Poker? Did Benvenuto Cellini ........

modesty and you go hand in hand, I bet your wife has a field day ribbing you