A Downer - a RANT

[storytimewithjoe]

While I will post later on the rest of the weekend (which was pretty darned great, btw) I do sadly have one downer from mid-Saturday to get off my chest.

Have you ever had a stranger enter your life who behaved so incredibly rude and insensitive as to leave your head spinning?  That is what happened to me.  I will not bore you with the circumstances (which are both trivial and silly).  But suffice it to say that I was so offended by this one person's behavior that I didn't know what to do.

I felt so angry that I wanted to do something violent.  I would have LOVED to have hit him or to have inflicted damage upon his property.  I was so insulted that I felt irrationally justified to do whatever I would have liked to do.  I felt irrationally angry at my companions who, because of circumstance, just happened to not be there at the time when I could have used backup.

Logically and rationally, I know I did the right thing by backing down from the situation - I knew it was not worth escalating what could have turned into a violent scene.  But that left me furious with myself.  I WANTED to hit the jerk.  I WANTED to see him suffer for being such an ass.  And because I believe violence is never the answer, I was angry at myself for feeling that way. 

The anger and resentment has followed me throughout the weekend, despite all efforts to keep it at bay.  And since it won't go away on its own, maybe talking it through will help.

To the jerk,

Some people think that the world is their oyster.  You must be one of those people.  But going one step further, you obviously seem to think that the world is your oyster, yours alone, and that nobody else has the right to that oyster, or the ground that you walk upon, the water that you drink, or the air that you breathe.  Even sadder, you demonstrated the fact that if you can't have your oyster, you will ruin it for everyone else.  There is a sentiment that I believe is Tibetan in origin.  Roughly translated, it is as follows:  "Why do you put forth your energy to ruin the happiness of others?  You must be very lonely."

May you receive three-times as much joy and happiness from others as you yourself give.

Comments

[cogitoergozoom.livejournal.com]

Don't be mad at yourself...pat yourself on the back for doing the right thing and taking the high road! We all get angry - it's only human - and it's appropriate to vent it out in whatever constructive way possible, rather than stifling it in and doing yourself more damage.

[joeguppy.livejournal.com]

I'm better about it now, but at the time I was so angry at myself for not clobbering the goober!