People have anger issues these days. What's up with that?
It is funny, living in the wealthiest country in the world. People drive enormous gas-guzzling vehicles and then complain about the price of gas. People are 100 lbs overweight and complain about the price of food. People vote against healthcare, and then complain about their medical bills. Americans are, quite literally, insane.
We left the island the other day - a novelty for us. There is a five-mile-long causeway and the speed limit is 55 MPH in most parts and is strictly enforced. We have our own State Police substation here, with several officers with nothing much to do, policing an island of well-off old people. So they set up speed traps and also traps for people who run stop signs. You get the idea real quick that it is pointless to speed on an island 7 miles long with a 35 MPH speed limit (max).
One of our neighbors, who is well over 70, has one of those "Hellcat" cars - over 700 HP. It is loud as all fuck, and only old fucks can afford cars like that (and the insurance). I keep wondering whether he'll buy a grown-up car someday. I mean, 0 to 60 in four seconds is nice - but again, the speed limit here is 35 MPH. I sold the M Roadster when I realized I never got out of second gear. It was a pointless toy.
But I digress.
Anyway, we're driving down the causeway, doing a little over 55 MPH which is the speed limit, and some jackass in a pickup is tailgating. Behind him is some jackass in a cheep Jeep Cherokee or something, tailgating the pickup. You know, an "SUV" that is really a car with all wheel drive. Anyway, the causeway is straight and most of it is a passing zone, but these two bozos don't pass - they just tailgate. I guess they were on the phone?
Finally, in a no-passing zone with oncoming traffic, the pickup passes followed by the Jeep, who cuts us off and then throws a can of "energy drink" (which is a concoction of sugar and caffeine that no one in their right mind would ever drink, unless type-II diabetes is their goal). at us. Mark deftly swerves - the hamster does handle better than an SUV.
Anyway, we were kind of puzzled by this - what was his problem? And of course, we caught up to him at the stop sign at Route 17, two miles down the road. Was he really going to "make time" on the causeway or something? Or he was just an immature jerk?
I guess he doesn't live or work here - that would sort of be burning bridges a bit, eh? I mean, if he worked for the Authority and they saw this video of him... goodbye State Pension!
Maybe I hit on the reason when I said "energy drink" - diabetes. We ran into this problem with Mark's Stepmother who was very overweight and had a horrible diet and undiagnosed diabetes. She would peak and valley, calm one minute and angry and pouting the next. Turns out, it was her blood sugar and nothing else. Once she was medicated, she turned into a sweetheart.
I see a lot of people who are in poor physical shape who are angry all the time - a recipe for a heart attack. I mentioned before how depressed I got the other day in Sam's Club, watching a dozen or more people in electric scooters, most grossly overweight, some with amputations, buying the worst sort of foods - candy, cakes, chips, and soda-pop. The brightly colored packages of sugary food stacked to the ceiling was somehow obscene. What was worse was to see so many grossly obese children - hardly in their teens and 100 lbs overweight. One grabbed a double-box of "Lucky Charms" (Now with twice as many marshmallows!) and threw it in her mother's shopping cart, disdainfully. He was only 13 and had already developed a bad attitude.
No matter how lucky we are, someone else has it better. The neighbor has the new gaming system - why can't I have one? This crappy one is almost a year old! You see how this attitude is nurtured in the crib. These are the kids that grow up to be Kyle Rittenhouses - chubby cherubs who go looking for a fight - and finding one. Or worse, the new breed of Nazis, Klansmen, and Misogynists.
Of course, diet isn't the only reason. Drugs play a part, too - particularly methamphetamine and cocaine, both of which turn ordinary people into assholes. Supplements may play a part, too - I mentioned before that testosterone supplements tend to make people more angry and aggressive - a survival skill in the time of cavemen, something that will land you in jail in a civilized society.
Also, too, the culture of belligerence is rife in our society and worldwide. Being loud, obnoxious, and angry all the time is seen as "cool" by people of a limited brain capacity. And of course, young people buy into this as well.
But beyond all those excuses lies character. We all may make mistakes on occasion and go overboard. Some people, however, behave badly all the time, and think nothing of it. They are always right and everyone else is wrong - sounds like some billionaires and political figures we know. Even wired on crack, you have to know you are doing something wrong, if you have a good character. Then again, people of decent character are rarely wired on crack.
Of course, living well is the best revenge. And contentment beats happiness every time - and blows misery off the map. This fellow is obviously an unhappy person. He bought a bland SUV made by a company famous for its horrific quality - and no doubt has 72 more payments to make on it. He's late for wherever he has to go (or just feels he has to go as fast as possible, even if he has nowhere to go) and it is not hard to imagine how his driving record looks or what his insurance rates are like. To him, life is one sucky disappointment after another. He is lucky that the State Patrol wasn't on the causeway right then, as I suspect he'd get a ticket for more than just littering.
We, on the other hand, are in no hurry, our car is paid-for (since we didn't buy a useless, cramped, and overpriced SUV) and since we don't do stupid stunts like this, our insurance is cheap, cheap, cheap. Oh, and we're retired - and have been since our 50's.
Who's really "winning" here? I guess that's why he's so angry.
