25. Taking Out Grief with Anger
When my nephew died I was furious. I was sad, but I was also very angry that it had happened. I had an 11-hour drive home from the funeral and the ride was mostly farmland. I stopped on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere at like two or three in the morning and cried and screamed.
I had a softball bat in my back seat and I took it out and starting hitting some dead tree stump over and over. I was picking up rocks and hurling them across the road as I screamed. I think I kicked my car a bunch too. Eventually, I got myself together and got back in the car.
24. Bosses Blame Game
I threw out my shoulder at work when I did baggage at the airport. My boss came up to me and my coworkers and told me he was telling L&I that it was my fault for getting hurt because he has assumed that I didn't do my pre-shift stretches, and that I would be responsible for the doc visit and X-rays that they took.
Every morning I stretch and do a mindfulness exercise to try and help with my anxiety. He said that and then walked off, but I felt that tingle in the back of my head, and my body went numb. I was ready to kill this guy.
But instead, I grabbed my coworker/roommate to stand by in the office to witness me talk to him, and I don't remember what I said but my case was given to the manager above him, I was on work restriction for a month with zero issues, and that guy never talked to me without someone else with him again.
23. Appalling Attack
A redneck used his Ford F-250 to hit my little Nissan... three times, on purpose. All because he didn’t like us young foreign people (me and my friends) driving an imported “jap-crap.”
What gave me pleasure later was that my little Nissan was fine, just had holes on the bumper. His bumper was worse... and he got charged with battery with a deadly weapon and not allowed to own guns anymore!
22. A Mother’s Bad Excuse
When, as a teenager, I was told by my mother "I started smoking crack so I could get off the pills." I slapped her without thought or consideration, hard enough to knock her glasses off.
The fury was instant and all-consuming and all I could think about was how dare she? How dare she look me in the eye and say that sentence and expect me to accept her reasoning? That we were about to lose our home and her kids were going hungry but it was okay because at least it wasn't Vicodin!
God Almighty, it was nearly two decades ago, and the thought of that moment still makes my blood boil.
21. Getting High without Responsibility
I slapped my mom because she told me she purposefully called CPS to have us removed so she could get high without any responsibility.
All the physical, mental, emotional, and other assault my sisters and I suffered in foster care... all of it, was because she was too selfish. I still have issues from it, over 20 years later.
And while she got and stayed clean, she still wasn't the best mother, nor did she have the best judgment. I'm still angry at her for stuff, and she's been dead for three years. I love her, but damn it, I just want to scream at her every time I think about all the stuff she put me through.
20. When You Get So Angry, You Get Angry at Yourself
My mother, days before Xmas, telling me along the lines that essentially everyone in the family just "puts up with me" and doesn't actually want me around.
I pulled my arms above my head stifling a scream while on the phone with her, brought my arms down swiftly and elbowed a hole into my grandmother's wall...
I felt awful and even more pissed at myself than I already was.
19. Tearing into the Teacher
In high school, I had the misfortune to take psychology from an absolute idiot of woman. She was consistently incorrect about the biology she incorporated in her class, picked favorites, and was always trying to fit in (??) and make friends with the kids she approved of. She also looked and sounded like the receptionist from the beginning of office space.
One day a girl in our glass decided to wear a very low (I mean looow) cut dress to class, and she obviously regretted it. I wasn't the best of friends with her, but we knew each other.
Anyway, so during the class, the teacher kept making these really, really uncalled for comments, alluding to this dress and the type of person who would wear one, and the girl is basically in tears. You could tell a big part of the class was uneasy/appalled.
I already hated the guts of this woman, and it was so inappropriate and mean of her, that when the class was over I just stayed behind and tore into her about what a cruel, insipid, idiot of a worthless human being she was. I don't think I could even see out of my eyes while I was talking. She didn't say anything back to me, and she never said anything about afterward either.
18. Holding On After Tapping for Submission
Guy cranked the armbar tighter after I said tap. I had to shout so that the entire gym heard me. No excuse for that. Thankfully no major damage aside from a sore elbow for a week. Next time I visit that gym I will not be rolling with him again.
17. Family Finances
When my little brother emptied my little sister's savings...couldn't even look at him in the eye anymore. Long-term anger is very difficult to control and definitely puts some mental stress on you. I feel like I really failed as a big brother. I took him for a ride and told him to fix it and get out the house ASAP...been almost a year since he moved out.
In general, growing up I've always been one to express anger at a lot of things, and always sought retribution. Sadly, that hasn't changed much for me. Anger problems definitely run in my family.
16. Standing Up For a Friend
I used to be angry when I was small. A lot actually. But this one time is definitely the most pissed of I had ever been.
So we were sitting in class. Nothing special. We had been told to read our answers to a math assignment out loud. Then my friend, let’s call him Isla (Not his real name), read his answers out loud.
Some of his answers were wrong. Nothing unusual. We all make mistakes, right?
But for some reason, every time he said something wrong one of our classmates would say: “Ha! You couldn’t even get that right? You’re so stupid.”
Every time he did this, I would become more and more irritated. Partly because the teachers didn’t do anything, but mainly because he was a piece of crap.
After the fifth time, I had enough. I stand up, and almost yell at him “Shut the heck up you piece of crap! You’re the one that’s stupid here jerk. Want me to correct you every time you say something stupid you little piece of gunk?”
I sat down. The class was dead silent.
15. Kitty Hit and Run
So I'm driving home on a pretty deserted two-lane road (as in one lane going each way) and see a cat injured in my lane. I come to a screeching halt (thank science I was only going like 45) and stop, blocking the lane with my flashers on. Hop out and check out the cat and the poor guy is lying there with what looks like two broken legs, but is otherwise ok (aside from being scared, pissed, and hurting).
I'm thinking to myself, "dang kitty it's your lucky day!" and as I go to run back to my car to grab a towel to pick him up in, a red Ford Mustang comes hauling itself AROUND my car, almost hitting me and absolutely creams the cat. His break lights never even flashed, he just kept on driving (now keep in mind that he was going probably 60+ in a 45 and could have killed me easily had I been next to the cat still like I had been just a second prior).
I'm 100% certain the kitty would have lived had it not been for that jerk. I've been sitting here for the last three hours just...seething, and I keep hearing the noise it made when he hit the cat over and over again in my head. Like, I have never been so angry at someone in my life. I wish I could have gotten a license plate just so I could find that guy and have a chat. A long...long...chat.
14. EMT Part I
I'm an EMT. We see a lot of crap on the job. Some lowlights include...
A mother was driving her car while putting on mascara in the mirror, not looking at the road, and she drove through a red light at an intersection and smashed into another car. I was called out to the scene of the wreck and then in the hospital I was treating her son, who had broken his arm. She was fine.
The man from the other car was getting prepped for surgery and had to learn that his wife died in the crash. I saw her mangled body at the crash site, the remains of her anyway, but she wasn't my patient. Police were asking questions of everybody in the hospital.
When the husband learned about his wife, he broke down crying and said he didn't want to go to surgery until he could see her. The mother screamed over from the other side of triage "Yeah? Well your wife was a [insert worst expletive here], she got in my way and now I'm gonna miss my damn party."
...She wasn't on any drugs or anything that could help "excuse" being so horrifically evil.
13. EMT Part II
Treating a boy whose father thought a fun family pastime would be burning a cigar into his child's eye sockets.
An eight-year-old epileptic who'd severely sliced her leg during a seizure and lost a lot of blood, whose parents stood by, did nothing, didn't touch her, watched, and refused to let us treat her because it was "God's will." (We called the police; that's all we can do during a refusal).
12. Banned from Talking About Dad
The day that my mother told me I was no longer allowed to mention my father in her house because it made my stepfather angry and my siblings jealous. I talked to my father once a week on the phone and saw him a few times a year, and suddenly I was expected to pretend he didn't exist.
I stood there in shock for a minute, told her it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard, and left the room. If someone's head could explode from anger, mine would have.
11. Sexist Moped Anger
Last year I bought a moped. I was riding down a street by my house and stopped at a stoplight next to an SUV. There were two men in the car. One of them yelled for me to get into the bike lane, since apparently I was going “too slow” at 30 MPH in a 30 MPH zone. I thought he was joking so I sort of laughed. I yelled, “it’s illegal”! and started riding, and I heard him yell, “get into the bike lane” before speeding up very quickly and driving towards me.
His car grazed my arm as I yelled and slammed on my brakes. He cut me off sharply and stopped in the bike lane. I started yelling that he could have killed me and was a serious jerk, and he said, “witch, you better get the heck out of my way.” I told him he was a sexist piece of crap and started repeating that I had every right to be driving with traffic, and he then leaned forward and grabbed my arm very roughly.
I am 5 foot 2 and weighed about 100 lbs at the time. My entire wrist fit easily into his hand, and he pulled me towards him. I nearly fell off my bike and screamed when he grabbed me, and he kept shaking my arm and said, “you stupid trick, get the heck out of my way, you better ride in the bike lane you dumb witch.” Then he let go of my arm and said, “keep your chin up, witch” and rode off.
It was absolutely horrible and terrifying, and haunted me for days. Now I carry mace with me everywhere. So, basically, a man tried to run me over and then assaulted me for driving the speed limit.
10. The Dodgeball Jerk
I was in high school gym class and this one kid was being a jerk to everyone during dodgeball. He was throwing as hard as he could at special ed kids, girls that weren't even paying attention, and people that were out. So I get hit, go sit on the wall, and tell myself "If that jerk comes over and hits me, I'll freak out."
So here he comes and he winds up and tags me in the face. I get up and tackle him, and start beating the CRAP out of him. He started screaming and the teacher and a couple other students pulled me off. So we calm down a little and he stands up and starts complaining about me and I just crack him in the face again.
I don't know if I have ever been that mad. I know it wasn't that big of a deal, but circumstances built up and I lost my mind.
9. Step-dad Pulls Out Funding
My step-daughter will be getting married on November 3rd. The wedding planning has consumed most of her and her mother's life (I say her mother because we aren't married, though we've lived together for so years) for the past six months.
My step-daughter graduated last December from University. I paid for her to go to college, though it was a state school, it still ran $4oK. She does not have a job and has been living with us for the duration of her college career and since her graduation. I also bought her a car to get back and forth from school when she finished high school.
From time to time her deadbeat father would pop into her life and she would fawn all over him. Although he has not contributed a cent to her education or paid any child support, though that is my girlfriend's fault as C.S. was not part of the settlement, she still loves him and wants him in her life. He stays long enough to break her heart by skipping town and breaking some promise that he made her.
The wedding venue holds 25o people max. I gave them a list of 20 people that I wanted invited, you know, since I was paying for everything. They told me that was no problem and they'd take care of it. So I let these people know they'd be getting an invite and they should save the date. Saturday, I saw one of my friends on this list at the golf course and asked if he was coming. He told me that he wasn't invited.
He told me that he got an announcement, but not an invitation. He had it in his back seat (along with probably six months of mail) and showed it to me. Sure enough, it was just an announcement, and my name was nowhere on it. It had her dad's name and her mom's name and not mine.
This led to a pretty big fight with my GF, as I found out that NONE of my list of twenty "made the cut" for the final guest list because "25o people is very tight." I was pissed, but not a hell of a lot I could do because the important people in my life had already been offended. My GF said "if some people didn't rsvp yes, I might be able to get a couple people in." But that is an ultimate slap in the face in my opinion. So, I was boiling on Saturday.
Yesterday, we had a Sunday dinner with the future in-law's family and us and a surprise guest, the "Real Dad." At this little dinner my step-daughter announced that her "Real Dad" was going to be able to make it to her wedding and that now he'd be able to give her away. This was greeted with a chorus of "Oh how great" and "How wonderful"s.
I don't think I have ever felt so angry and so disrespected. I was shaking. I took a few seconds to gather my composure, because I honestly wasn't sure if I would cry or start throwing punches or both. Once I was sure I'd be able to speak I got up from my chair and said I'd like to make a toast. I can't remember exactly what I said but the gist of it was this:
"I'd like to make a toast."
The sound of spoons against glasses ring in my ears.
"It has been my great pleasure to be a part of this family for the past ten years."
Awe, how sweet.
"At this point in my life I feel I owe a debt of gratitude to bride and groom, because they have opened my eyes to something very important."
Confident smiles exchanged.
"They have showed me that my position in this family is not what I once thought it was."
And now a glimmer of confusion and shock begins to spread on the faces in the room.
"Though I once thought of myself as the patriarch or godfather of the family, commanding great respect and sought out for help in times of need, it seems instead that I hold the position of an ATM, good for a stream of money, but not much else. As I have been replaced as host, both on the invitations and in the ceremony, I am resigning my financial duties as host to my successor, Real Dad. So cheers to the happy couple and the path they have chosen."
I finished my drink.
"You all can let yourselves out."
Is this selfish? I'm supposed to shell out 40 - 50 grand for a wedding that I can't invite anyone to? That I am not a part of? I'm so done with this crap. I'm done with my step-daughter, I'm done with my GF. I transferred the money out of our joint account last night. (she has not had a job since she moved in with me) This morning I called all the vendors I had written checks to for deposits to refund my money. At present it looks like I'll lose around 150o, for the venue, but the other vendors have been great about refunding.
8. Kicking a Pregnant Woman
My sister was six months pregnant with her twins when she got into an argument with my ex-sister-in-law over my niece. The ex got mad and kicked my sister in the stomach. I jumped over the kitchen table from a sitting position and tackled her. I was sitting on her, choking her when my dad and my brother pulled me physically off of her and threw her out of the house.
It's the only time I've been so angry I don't remember doing it, I only know because they told me about it. I snapped back to with my dad holding onto my arm and my brother on the other side. My mom and sister were standing a few feet away with their jaws dropped open. It's been almost six years and she's still terrified of me.
7. Driving Reckless
I was driving on a highway in the middle of nowhere. One lane each direction. I came around a corner and see this giant truck coming at me (extended cab and bed gas guzzling monstrosity), he's passing a semi. He's maybe halfway around it, and entering a double yellow area. Instead of slowing down, and getting back behind the semi, the man decides to finish passing.
I slammed on my brakes and got as far over as I could without rolling my car (a little Hyundai Elantra). There were maybe 3 feet between our bumpers when he got back into his lane. That jerk almost killed me and my two-year-old niece, so he could shave five minutes off his drive time. I was shaking I was so pissed, and I seriously considered flipping a U-turn, and tracking him down. It still makes me mad thinking about it.
6. Blinded Guilt Trip
My mum had Stage 4 lung cancer. Before she passed, I spent a year and a half taking care of her. I lost track of the number of hospitals we went to. Or the number of times I woke up at 5 am, fought traffic, etc. just to bring her to chemo. Cooked for her. Managed her medications and later on, her hospice needs. Etc—if you've had to take care of a cancer patient, you know the drill.
My dad did the same for my mom too—when he wasn't overseas with his mistress.
A few months after she passed, my dad tried to guilt trip me into moving myself and my wife back to his house by saying that "I haven't done anything for the family." I went ballistic and smashed up the garage. He never brought it up again.
5. Bully Backlash
Probably the angriest I can recall was when I was still being bullied, which was back in middle school. These jerks had kept pestering me and messing with me for months and months, almost years, so I tried to give them warning to not continue and to just leave me alone. They didn't take the hint.
One day, I supposedly had backtalked them and they wanted to fight me after school. All that time of anger, frustration, and low self-esteem had driven me to a breaking point of fury and rage then. When we fought, I had a new-bridled form of anger. Something inside me snapped, and I just took it out on them.
I got badly hurt from their hits, but not compared to them against me. I didn't at least get sent to the hospital for my injuries; they apparently did. I didn't know because I was too busy kicking their butts like the brats they were.
Needless to say, they didn't come close to ever bothering me again, and I had a reputation, up until mid-high school, as this troubled kid and someone to not interact with. As a result of their stupidity, I had a lot of trouble making new friends, in addition to my usual personality not exactly being stellar then.
Eventually, though, everything got much better and folks wanted to actually be friends with me. High school was much better than middle school ever was for me, even with another close call of being expelled from fighting then back in freshman year. Needless to say, I haven't gotten anywhere near that angry ever since, and I generally don't get mad at all.
4. Confronting the Murderer of his Child
The angriest I've ever been was when I confronted the guy who murdered my daughter. I had to hear it from him that he was the one that did it. I mentioned how hurt I was and how awful it was to find her like that. He had the audacity to say he was traumatized by the things he saw while he murdered her. I was so angry I couldn't even speak. I had to leave. If him and I had been in the same room and not via screens I would not have been able to control myself.
3. Losing Trust in Man
It was my birthday. My fiancé's ex called me to tell me she was his mistress since the very beginning of our relationship.
I took the train back home. Didn't cry. My mother told me "I've never seen you this angry in your whole life." I did everything for him. I really gave it my all because isn't it what you are supposed to do when you're getting married?
It's been a year. I don't think I'll ever be able to trust a man again.
2. The Wrong Day for a Tow
So I had to work a 4 until close shift. Mid-'90s. Waiter. Broke as a joke. I'm horribly hung-over but you can't call in sick for the 26-ounce flu; so I'm going to work. I stop at a 7-11 for a V-8 juice. 15-minute customer parking. This is important later. I come out of the store and see a Second Cup coffee place across the street. I go in and get a large black coffee with white sugar.
As I cross the street to the 7-11 parking lot, I look up and see a tow truck hooking up my car. Bewildered, I ask the guy what he thinks he's doing. He looks at me condescendingly, and says he's towing my car. I point to the sign and say I have 15-minute customer parking. He replies "You left the property" Getting cross, I say "What does that have to do with anything?" He goes back to hooking up my car.
I am quite angry now. I step towards him and demand he unhook my car. He ignores me. I take another step and say "Unhook my car or I will kick the crap out of you" I have never been so mad in my life before or since. Never threatened violence on someone. Never. He stands up, turns and says "I'll charge you with assault." I drop my V-8; it shatters, the coffee his the ground; spills. I take another step towards him. "And you'll still be in the hospital."
I don't know what I was going to do to that man. I was just going to throw myself at him, tear into him. I don't know, but he must have seen something in my eyes. He turned around, muttering under his breath...and unhooked my car. I stood there shaking for a good five minutes before I could drive. I have never experienced such all-encompassing rage. Screw that guy.
1. Seeing the Worst of the Mother-in-Law
Ex-mother-in-law, who had received pictures of my 2-week old daughter in a cute red dress, a pretty pink ribbon and bow in her hair and an adorable smile, decided that during an argument was severe enough to warrant insulting my baby-girl by saying "Your daughter looks stupid. Why? Does she get that from you?"
My daughter was a c-section baby. My ex tried her damnedest to squeeze her out, but could only dilate to 8 and thus wedged her head a few times. She had a temporary misshaped skull that over the next month normalized.
I was seeing a shade of red that no man should ever see.
Due to the fact it was a phone call and she was too far away to strangle, I settled for setting pleasantries aside and letting her know how I really felt, for the first time ever.
I held the phone in my hand about a foot from my mouth, unable to hear anything she's saying and cursed her existence and sent every word in the book at her for 15 solid minutes.
I eventually hung up without a word extra and to this day have no idea how long she listened, but she ended up calling me back, calling me the bastard lapdog of Satan (she was hyper-religious to a ridiculous level. I called her the Osama Bin Laden of Christianity) and I hung up and never spoke to her again.
P.S. I did this swearing outside. Neighbors were understandably concerned. My daughter was insulated from the incident and heard nothing while still inside.
This was 15 years ago. Have said nothing to her since.
