I'm worried about how some people lose their temper at nothing!!

[Passtherioja]

I'm concerned that so many people are far too stressed and flipping out at the tiniest things! It can't be healthy...and if they're responding like that in public what on earth is going on at home!!

I could give loads of examples over the years of seeing people screaming at pensioners in car parks for reversing too slowly, major road rage, screaming at their children in the supermarket (I don't mean telling them off or shouting-I mean majorly losing their shit with them!!)

Now I'm no saint, I'm not expecting everyone to go round grinning at everyone but I'm on about adults having complete meltdowns!

Yesterday a "lady" rolled down her window and screamed abuse at me because apparently I'd given her "a filthy fucking look!"... I have no idea who she was, where I'd passed her or what she was on about.... I was on the way to pick up a take away and was considering buying a bottle of red so she might have mistaken my "should I buy wine?" face for looking at her 🤔🍷

It's just not healthy...what is going on??

@PickAChew -I think the older people get the brunt of this (although the lady abusing me yesterday was older than me...and I'm not an oldie!!)

I once saw a lady screaming at an old chap on a Tesco car park....I faked her how she'd feel if someone spoke to her dad like that!

When older drivers are walking /driving too slow I always remind the kids that we'll all be old one day if we're lucky!!

I’m calm and cool but it was a bad day for me and this NDN from around the corner was always picking on me. My car parking was bothering her(my Polo was too loud-it wasn’t), the block of flats I lived at the time was too posh making the area too expensive, my work shoes were too high (those boring LK Bennett court ones) so I was a “prozzie”, shed push past me in the local corner shop..... I’d ignore her as I had shit of my own to deal with until one very bad day where she came right up to my face and told me “I have a punchable face”. I lost my shit and the left hand punched under the chin and my right between the eyes. She pretty much dropped like a log. Told her to call the police. She walked away. That was it, she never approached me again.
Many of those people are cowards, once you retaliate, even verbally, they back off.
PS. I do not condone violence btw.

I remember once going to Sainsbury’s when DD2 was 3 years old (she’s 7 now). I was about to park in a parent and child space, but there was an elderly bloke blocking my way; he was literally just standing there in a world of his own. I beeped my horn gently to get his attention; he came to my car and hurled abuse at me. I tore him off a strip for doing so in front of my DD and he backed down, but I’d been absolutely shocked at his anger. Was I supposed to have just waited until he remembered where he was?

DH got called a Paki yesterday by a cyclist who was clearly in the wrong. The idiot punched the car repeatedly and scared the shit out of our blind dog. DH is actually Greek so speaks with an accent, which the cyclist proceeded to take the piss out of. Horrendous.

@Saavhi -that's awful!!

Road rage is just so pointless and can make a bad situation even worse. I just don't see the point?

Yesterday I was driving along a road and indicated to turn left into a carpark. Before I turned I checked my mirrors and saw a cyclist coming up the side of me on my left so I briefly waited (as in seconds) for him to pass then I turned into the carpark. The car behind me blasted his horn at me aggressively because I had briefly stopped because he hadn't seen the cyclist. No patience just an instant horn beep! As he drove on he must have then seen the cyclist and I hope he felt like a tit because he was one. I doubt it though...

People do seem to fly off the handle at the tiniest thing.

I was visiting a friend and their road is weird. I parked in a kind of inset parking bay. Girl comes out of the house it was near and asks me to move 'as her parents will want to park there'. So I asked if it was dedicated house parking- trying to understand are all bays out of bounds.
Her friend/ sister came right up to my face, shoved her hand in my face and said 'You fucking bitch, just move your fucking car, or I'll fucking move you'.
That made me go all mama bear. I had been polite AND had 2 DDs with me. I said' " How dare you use language like that in front of small kids. If you were polite I would have moved.Now - tough'
I thought I was going to be punched!

Nicer sister told her to shut up, apologised for the aggression and her language and car was moved.

All over a parking space not quite outside their house,

Yep people have a very short fuse over bugger all.

Do you think it's because they think that aggression gets them their own way?

I know someone who has episodes of uncontrollable, blind rage, it's bloody scary. She throws things a lot. I'm sure she must feel humiliated afterwards but listening to her justify her actions is completely baffling.

Statistically speaking things are more calm and less aggressive in the world than they've ever been. In the middle ages for example you'd have been killed for some of these kinds of minor disputes.

When I was young there were skinheads roaming the streets. My parents, there were pub fights and people sewing razor blades into their lapels. So much domestic violence. Twas ever thus.

I had a similar thing today, was walking down a corridor to supermarket, following guy pushing trollies, man following me muttered something, then barged me and trod on my foot.

I wonder about this a lot. People are just vile sometimes. I have many worse and more aggressive examples than this one but it stands out in my head for various reasons.

I stayed in a dorm at the Golden Temple in Amritsar some years back. Found a spare bed, set myself up and went back out to marvel at the place.

When I got back some chick had chucked my stuff on the floor and was setting herself up on my bed. Almost before the words had left my mouth she started screaming at me, hurling abuse about how she was “NOT MOVING!!!!!”

It was such an odd and jarring contrast against the tranquillity and respectful way everyone else behaved. She was wearing flannel pyjamas like a kid would wear with fairies or something on them, with her hair in two plaits flying about as she jumped up and down swearing and ranting at me as I stood silent. I actually almost started laughing. Shame, she was such a cute little Scottish lass.

She got kicked out.

I blame shows like eastenders and jeremy kyle. They're full of conflict, arguing, insults, nastiness, over reaction and general emotional incontinence. People on them also say whatever comes into their minds regardless of how inappropriate it might be.

People think this is how they're supposed to behave in real life. I've perfected the art of ignoring people when I'm out and avoiding all eye contact. I never look at other drivers faces either. A couple of men have tried to have a go at me before, but I just keep the windows closed, doors locked and turn the radio on.

I'd had an awful day last week - got some terrible news about my DM. Was in my head and absent mindedly walked out in front of a car (no traffic lights on the road) and instead of beeping at me (I fully accepted it was my fault) the driver rolled down his window and said, "watch where you're going you stupid fucking whore". So that was nice 😂 people are vile

There does seem to be an epidemic of “exploding”, “reacting” and “snapping”: one would think people had been encouraged from childhood not to take responsibility for their own actions...

My neighbour opposite threatened me over parking. We live on a quiet residential street with plenty of parking and absolutely no restrictions. I had pulled my car off our driveway so my DH could pull his car off to go to work some 10 mins later.
I was then going to put my car back on the driveway.
The neighbour, a big unit, came out, started ranting and demanding to know why I had parked in 'his' spot and to 'fucking move it or else'
He was fair frothing and right in my face. I thought he was going to actually hit me at one point.
My DH came running out and cut him short with a punch that sent him sprawling into his hedge, with a 'yer dinna talk to my wife like that' in his heavy glaswegian accent.
Neighbour actively avoids us now.
People really should be careful, because there is always someone bigger or harder that will land you one.
People today lose it over the slightest thing, then get a shock when person they're foaming at retaliates. It's almost as though they think that no one would dare challenge their right to act like a twunt.

It's all a bit sad isn't it!!

I get that we've progressed from the Middle Ages where some of us would have been bludgeoned to death for our dodgy driving/thinking in a supermarket/facial expression etc...and I too have parents who can tales of the Teddy boy's turning up at dances at the Civic Hall and causing chaos but it's the sheer ferocity of insult over nothing that bothers me!

How can someone who is concerned over their mum end up being called a "stupid fucking whore" or my "should I buy wine face?" End up with me being a "fucking stuck up bitch." Comments about weight, looks, clothes from kids brought up to have no respect or consequence.

Now Jezza is off the TV maybe it could be replaced with programmes about how to manage conflict appropriately-someone walks out in front of the car unexpectedly and you wind your window down and shout "Hey, are you ok? That was close! Take care walking home." Sad thing is-it'll never catch on!!

I lost my shit and the left hand punched under the chin and my right between the eyes. She pretty much dropped like a log.

Sorry, what???

I think instead of agreeing with OP, which I suspect is what you meant by your post, you’re rather proving her point! I’m .

I do think internet and reality tv have such a negative effect on people’s perceptions of real life. Rather than reacting to situations calmly, some people turn into dramatic crazed loons.

I had something similar a couple of weeks ago whilst in my local Tesco metro, an elderly man with a walking stick, who I see a lot in the area, was struggling with his basket, and rather than helping him, a middle aged women in front of me just tutted and told him to move out the effing way. She was really intimidating, quite a large build, and the elderly man looked scared...I offered to help him and carried his shopping home, turns out he has just had a hip replacement. I wish I had spoken up and said something along the lines of, ‘there is no need for that language’ but I was with my daughter, and pregnant, and felt vulnerable.

This whole thread is really triggering for me (I'm not saying it has to be removed by the way - just at how awful people are!)

I have PTSD and the rise in people being aggressive is one of the reasons I can barely leave the house now. I just can't do confrontation and it happens to me a lot as a young, disabled wheelchair user.

I've been attacked, sworn at, screamed at, pushed, called vile names and threatened, usually simply for parking in a blue badge space or sitting in my car.

Yesterday, I went out with DH for the first time in a while to a new coffee shop. He asked me to pop to the counter to see what cake I wanted and when I came back to the table there was a large man standing over DH. He wanted our table because he had children, and this sent me into a massive melt-down. I couldn't speak, I thought I was going to pass out. I had to just sit down at our table while this man loomed over us and his partner and children gave us evils from across the way.

He wasn't even aggressive, just entitled and intimidating but because of my past experiences and my ptsd, it set me right off and now I'm thinking I can never leave the house again.

People don't realise how their shitty actions can effect others, nor what others are going through. The anger, aggression and downright bigotry that seems to be everywhere is absolutely terrifying.

We also had to leave with no coffee or cake

That sounds an awful way to live @CrazyCatNerd but I don’t understand what happened!

Did he just decide he randomly wanted your table?? Where was the owner/a member of staff?!

I’m sorry crazycatnerd that sounds really intense.

It’s easily to forget that amongst these angry people there are some very kind souls.

Hope that man doesn’t set you back in your road to recovery!

Yes, we'd sat down at the last table in a busy coffee shop. Two of us as DS was out, four chairs. I was feeling awesome as I hadn't needed my wheelchair to walk from car to coffee place. I went to look at the cakes so DH could go up and order. Random man decided that because there were no other tables and we were a couple rather than a family, him and his children were more entitled to our table than we were.

What’s going on? Modern life, too much toxicity on social media/tv/films. Financial pressures and worries about the future worse than they’ve been for a long time. Bigger, unrealistic, expectations fuelled by the instant celebrity/15 minutes of fame reality tv culture. People are no longer willing to accept what they might traditionally have accepted as their lot and resent what they see as lack of opportunity and people who have the things they haven’t.