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??

Society is actually more civilised than it's ever been. We are not more aggro or violent despite all your anecdotes. And as for cyclists - well I cycle and don't wear lycra. Not sure where I come in your order of social menaces!

"I have found some male cyclists to be very aggressive on shared paths/roads and tbh it leads me to avoid certain places as a pedestrian."

The problem here is that you have no recourse against a cyclist. With a motorist, there's a reg. number, with a pedestrian, you could run after them. A cyclist seems to have total impunity. Even though it's illegal, the police where I live think it's OK for them to cycle on pavements.

Yes society is falling apart

I think we remember negative incidents more than positive ones. Most people are kind. Sometimes people react badly and I always politely call people out on it in an over-nice way, eg what a horrible thing to say, is everything alright?
I don’t tend to take things personally, although I appreciate that this is very difficult to do.
On the other hand some people are just vile.

I’m not surprised at those attitudes Belfast, some people are so entitled. When my DD’s gym class was cancelled cos the teacher’s car broke down the teacher was so so apologetic like over the top. It’s just a kids’ gym class-not the Olympic squad! But I think people do big everything up now into such a huge thing and there does seem to be less resilience and less ability to say “that’s life”. There always has to be someone to blame and a complaint to be made. People want a high level of control over their lives I think.

I think there are too many people "on the edge"-dress linked to money, relationships, social media perceived perfection, work, materialistic lifestyles...I think life needs to simplify (time to replace Jezza with The Good Life.)

Where do you lot live? I live in an area of london that would probably be described as rough around the edges and I don't think I've ever encountered any such issues on the streets, if anything people are more considered and patient, maybe because there's such a mixture of age, class, race, ethnicity and culture that we've learned to rub along gently and knowing any nastiness could be received with rather more serious consequences?

I wonder if perhaps provincial towns and the like afford some sort of allowance for people to treat each other like shit because they know they can get away with it.

The problem here is that you have no recourse against a cyclist.

Fortunately (or unfortunately for him) in the incident with my DD, he was wearing a logoed jersey for a local club so the police have since been able to identify him and are taking it seriously

But, I live in a popular holiday area, companies from all over the UK organise cycling holidays here so we get huge groups on a jolly - they’re aggressively racing each other along shared paths and bridleways and their behaviour is pretty intimidating but there’s absolutely no way of tracing them

As a slight aside, a friend at our yard sent me a screenshot of a FB ranting post last night - the knobhead in question has posted a huge rant about horses on bridleways (huge clue right there in the name!), they should be ridden in fields, the usual posh/stuck up bullshit on one of our community pages. I’ve sent that to the police too

But, 1wokeuplikethis why would you give a two year old a scalding cup of anything, or indeed caffeine at all? Can't comment on all your interactions with your SIL but I would be annoyed if my child got burnt due to you, and would probably be very tempted to shout (although I hoped would be able to restrain myself) if you then tried to blame it on him as you've done here...of course he told you he was allowed/didn't listen when you said it was hot...he's two!!! You are an adult!

If you find it hard to say no to a toddler then perhaps you do have different boundaries as to what is aggressive versus just normal firmness.

I'm saying this as someone who literally can't remember the last time I shouted at anyone, and who is horrified by most of the stories here.

Just wanted to add though, there are several about people getting irate after being beeped at - a car horn can be very loud and startling if it is right next to you and unexpected...there is no excuse for their reactions but they could have been scared and lashed put automatically...e.g the poster with the old man standing in the car park space why didn't you just unroll the window and politely ask him to move? From his pov you blaring your horn inches from him could have been unnecessarily aggressive....

Me too. My sister seems to stalk parent and child spaces just waiting for an elderly or childless person to park so she can assert her superiority. In all other ways she is a kind, decent human.

I went to look at a really lively flat which was cheap and perfect when I was a student. As I was waiting for the agent, an angry man from next door started screaming about allocated parking spaces (unmarked and he didn't even own a car) and also I had bloody well taken the tube and wasn't driving! I turned heel and thanked God for a lucky escape.

I can't buy into it being about 'stress' or 'having a bad day'.

Those of us that don't have vile public temper tantrums still have stress, bereavements, miscarriages and every other kind of bad day going.

Basically every time I see a man act like this I pretty much assume they're likely to be the exact kind of person who's behind the horrible domestic violence stats.

@wheresmymojo -that's a very valid point! I wish I'd turned tail the minute I saw my ex-H scream abuse at a driver when we started dating. I'd never seen anything like it at that point but you're right, it was a glimpse of things to come!!

I got screamed at by a woman in the cinema last week. Apparently politely asking her child (looked about 10 or 11, not a toddler) to please not keep kicking my seat, was unacceptable. She got so aggressive, threw her popcorn at me and I was actually concerned that she was going to punch me. Someone must have been and reported it because security turned up and she was escorted away. I think they just sat her elsewhere though because at the end of the film they were in front of us in the foyer. I was super brave and ducked into the loos. 😩

I don’t know if I have told this story on here but a few months ago I went to a supermarket and when I got back to my car a small child was next to it with his DM and he was pissing on her tyre. I stood patiently waiting for him to finish because I could not get into my car they were blocking my door. When he finished had to leap/jump over the piss puddle and got it on my shoe. I didn’t say anything as the child was only small and although it was revolting and unnecessary (the shop had a toilet) I just wanted to go home but I did pull a ‘this is grim’ face

This mother decided to have a screaming fit in my face about ‘the look on my face’ and how judgemental I was, how there was no toilet in the shop (there is) and how it’s ‘only wee’. She was so irate at me

I just gave her a long hard stare and drove off

They could be on microgynon. I've just switched to it and I nearly rammed into a woman's car for parking across the last two available spaces in the small supermarket car park yesterday. I wanted to ruin her life in that second. I'm stopping the pill now! Seriously though, out of whack hormones can cause a myriad of unreasonable angry behaviour!

I work in a doctors surgery and have to deal with irritated people daily.
I'm usually pretty OK with confrontation and think I deal with it well, at the end of the day understand that the people coming in generally aren't well and will be a contributing factor in why they are ranting...
However.. I had a man come to the desk when I was in my early 20s asking to pick up a form.. Asked him his name, John Smith or something really common it was. So asked to confirm date of birth so I could determine which John Smith he was.. To which he absolutely flew into a rage, demanded his form, I didn't know need to know his DOB, really shouting at the top of his voice over the desk. I kept calm and just explained that I just needed to find him on the system and he still shouted that I didn't need to know that.
We were at a bit of a standstill with him shouting and me just explaining I needed DOB to help him, I think because I didn't give him a reaction to his shouting he decided to get personal and shouted that I was too ugly to be working there, to which I immediately burst into tears. I think I was just so shocked. Dickhead.
People can be so hurtful and nasty over nothing. It is scary.
There is also a different patient who literally comes in and starts an argument every time, he's notorious for it, no matter who deals with him. If you look the wrong way at him, don't get his meds quick enough he just explodes every time. Zero tolerance policy is a load of crap! They know he is aggressive every time he comes in and although the managers talk to him they let him stay on as a patient! Dread to think how he treats people outside the surgery.