Sometimes volunteer positions are interesting.
One of my volunteer jobs is being chairman of the Landscape Committee in Sienna Plantation, the community we live in. Generally it’s mostly going to a monthly meeting, driving the neighborhood choosing yard of the month candidates, and sometimes doing a little homework.
But every once in a while I get an email from another of our residents, making a suggestion or registering a complaint. I received one today from a guy who was upset. Seems this morning as he was leaving the subdivision, there was water on the road from the sprinkler system, and it splashed on his car which he had washed yesterday.
His rant was civil, but thoughtless. He was obviously angry about something else that was out of his control, so taking a shot at whoever was responsible for the sprinklers putting water on the street and messing up his car was the best he could do.
While he said that he couldn’t understand why there was water on the street, really he could. We’ve been having wind gusts of 20-25 mph this week, and water from the sprinklers gets blown from where it normally would land. He was just angry and needed to vent his anger at someone, and since whatever it was that he was really mad about didn’t have a target he could vent to, I got the email.
Unfortunately, this is fairly normal behavior. I suspect that you’ve done it, as have I. It’s not something to be proud of, but rather something to work to avoid. It’s one of those lose-lose things.
What works for you when you become angry and want to lash out at someone, anyone?
by Jim Hughes
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