Has Rage Become The American Norm?

Originally posted July, 2007

   My husband called me from work yesterday, upset. Very upset. He was upset because some "idiot" pulled in right behind him, as he was backing up, stopped, then started yelling and cussing at my husband to move the %^&$*(%^o  truck!

   Sunday, My family and I went to the movies. I stopped into the ladies room, headed for the first door hanging open, then stopped as it bumped into someone in the stall. "Oh, excuse me!" I said, and headed for another stall. Normally, that would have been the end of it. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

    From the other side of the stall door, came this tirade of filthy language, non stop, from the occupant.
" Don't you know you're supposed to look under the door before opening it!," she screamed, "I'm gonna come out there and beat the livin sh** out of you!"

   And it didn't stop there. She went on and on and on. I'm no coward but I wasn't about to get into it with her. I simply went and found the manager, informing him that some crazy woman was disturbing the peace in the ladies room.

Last month, our little town had its first murder in three decades. The cause? Road rage! A teenager caused an accident to another man's car then got out and stabbed him to death!

   Two years ago, at Christmas time, I was in the drop off lane in front of the movies (a different one than the one above). As I sat there, I watched a woman in the car in front of me, as she leaned her head out the window, screaming and cussing up a storm.

   The object of her rage? A very elderly, shaky woman, with a walker, was slowly being helped out of a van. The woman in front of me finally pulled up and passed the van, flipping the old lady the bird as she screeched by - still screaming. And all this in front of three young children I saw in the car with her. Some role model, huh?

   This past week, there was an article in a local newspaper, about a young man who pulled out a gun, while eating dinner with his parents, and shot his mother to death. Prior to being shot, his mother had been dealing with terminal cancer.

    My husband and I talk of this often. We see this almost everywhere we go now. Horrible manners. Inconsiderate behavior. Racing to get in front of someone. Racing to cut someone off or beat them to a parking spot. Blaring horns and flipping birds if you're not going fast enough.

   From cussing a person out to assault to murder, this in your face explosive hostility and rage is directed towards anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is safe.

      We often ask ourselves, how did it get to this?  What happened to the world we once knew where good manners, and the ability to hold one's temper, were the mark of a civilized person.