I’m
71. By now I should have a grip on my explosive temper, don’t you think? No so,
as I relearned that lesson today.
As
part of my job, I seal boxes of medical specimens for shipment. This involves
dry ice, packing tape, I Pad entries,
etc. My last stop is the Regional West Hospital
in Scottsbluff , NE.
In a nearby parking lot are some nice shade trees so I park in the (very
broad) traffic lane and do my ten minute job. Doesn’t inconvenience anyone and
the hospital security people are ok with it.
Today
as I’m working a blivet and blivette (a blivet is two pounds of shit in a one
pound bag) pull up along side of me in a ratty Geo Tracker. The blivet driver proceeds
to say something along the lines of, “You Colorado drivers are real dumb shits,
parking in the RED Zone” or words to that effect and starts to drive off.
My
reply, “Go fuck yourself”, resulted in him slamming to a stop, jumping out of
his POS, and getting in my face. He is about 50, a few inches shorter than me
but just as fat. So now we have two hot heads jawing at each other. He left
before it got physical, damn it. (Maybe my lucky day).
Turning
around I saw this older lady with her cell phone recording the whole thing. Her
remarks clearly showed her to be sympathetic to me.
“What
was his problem? You are just doing your job”, she said.
I thanked her for having my back.
My
lesson from all this is, I still have a hot temper and a short fuse. Despite
all the problems this has caused me in
my life I don’t have good (or any) control. Fuck it, don’t mean shit, drive on.
6 comments:
Old age just means the reflexes are slower. It don't change nuttin and it don't mean nuttin. At least you didn't shoot him.
Probably good for both of you that it was just verbal. Hothead.
What bothers me is I gave that blivet the time of day.
I'm sure you are right. Doubt I heal as fast nowadays.
I also have a temper that has led me to do things I later regret. Two things that help me control it.
1) I consider the source. If it's someone that is clueless, and/or is irrelevant or has no business commenting or butting in, I ignore them.
2) Ignoring the butt-in-skis usually pisses them off even more, which makes me happy.
Of course, telling 'em to go fuck themselves is also satisfying.
Any number of ways I could have handled the situation. Mulling them over, I like that I'm still combative; nobody's victim.
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