ANGRY PEOPLE PULL MORE ANGER

Angry people need an audience like a bird needs air, like a fish needs water.

Without other people the angry one is a solo yeller.

With other people they are a leader calling out ‘THE TRUTH.’

That’s when ‘the truth’ takes a dive.

A fish without water is a long flopper gasping out its last breaths in an alien environment: land.

The bird without air? It’s condemned to walk it’s last mile on those short legs instead of using their wingspan cruising for food.

An angry man without an audience keeps working to find one.

They are angry about this issue one day, that issue the next, until their ratings say what they need to hear:

‘You’re not alone.’

After that it’s easy.

The tiny fish in the sea nibble on tiny things because that’s all that fit into their mouths.

Bigger fish eat bigger things, like tiny fish.

Birds in the sky flit from bush to bush, tree to tree, picking up bugs for breakfast, or scanning the land for just the right gopher to snatch up.

Angry People Feed Off One Thing

“Why don’t I have more followers, subscribers, listeners, readers, customers,” and on and on.

Someone pumped up on their own importance, their own sense for personal destiny, needs validation.

Without validation they’re lost, striking out at those closest to them, those furthest away, everyone.

Their personality, if that’s what it’s called, takes a beating. Maybe it’s self-esteem, self-awareness, or just selfishness based on insecurities.

The audience they seek, the worshippers they need, have their own problems.

When they find their angry leader their problems diminish?

No, their lives still suck, their kids still hate them, their husbands and wives still question them, but now they have an answer.

They have ‘The Truth.’

But ‘The Truth’ Does Not Set Them Free

Listening to a jackass run their mouth gives angry people permission to storm the Capitol, then get sentenced by a court of law for their actions.

You may riot together in righteous anger, but you’re standing alone before the angry judge.

Or you may disagree with land use laws that put your way of life at risk, like grazing rights.

If you find yourself in a group like the one pictured in the link, something went wrong.

Look around your circle of friends for clues to who they are.

If they look like trouble and you’re in the same group, you are also trouble.

Fifteen year old me was getting a ride home after football practice in the backseat of a teammate’s car.

We made one stop on the way.

For that one stop I ended up getting perp-walked at a school event by an undercover detective.

Luckily my Dad was at the same event and came to my rescue.

Instead of a phone call about their kid from the police station, he got the story there, got my release, and asked me about the rest of the story.

I was in the backseat of a car used in a robbery.

The crime: We stopped behind the local Payless store and loaded a few cases of soda pop into the trunk.

I didn’t leave the car, but I was an accomplice in the eyes of the law.

Was I a bad kid? I drank the pop, so yes I was a terror.

On my sixteenth birthday I rode in the back of another car while my dad drove to juvenile court and my Mom hissed at me with, “I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

Hissing For Hope

If my parents had been certain angry people they would have said things like, “It’s not your fault.”

“You did nothing wrong.”

“It’s a fake charge issued by a totalitarian system.”

They could have converted me to that train of thought, except they were better than that.

My Dad grew up with some of the guys in the state police force and served with them in the Korean War; my Mom knew all the cops in the county.

They stood up for me in a quiet way with just enough noise for me to know I wasn’t making the same mistake again.

The old man worked with liars and frauds and scammers every day.

My Mom worked with car thieves, cheaters, and confused people.

One was an insurance adjuster, the other a DMV clerk.

They knew all about the wheels of justice and how to get ground up in them.

By standing with me, along with the hissing, I gained a new respect for them.

Passing Values Down

Fifty-some years later I’ve got two adult sons who got the same message: Respect yourself and respect others.

These are smart, strong, men who have learned to stand up the right way.

Every time we’re together I count my blessings for who they’ve become.

While I’m amazed at my own kids I’m more amazed at their wives.

They both married women who could have taken the easy way in life.

Both women have had life hurdles that break lesser people. They could have quit trying to accomplish their goals.

They could have dropped out of college and been fine. I’ve told my dropout story often enough.

My dropout story ended when I got married. With wifely encouragement I finished what I’d started.

Portland State doesn’t often get confused with Reed, Lewis and Clark, or University of Portland.

It doesn’t get confused with Stanford, Harvard, or Princeton either, but it’s all of those schools to me.

I call it the Harvard of The West. I told that to a Harvard guy who said he calls Harvard the Portland State of the East.

Angry people could care less about higher education, elite schools like PSU on the Park Blocks, or curiosity about all things.

Doing that interferes with their victim-hood.

Don’t Victim Me Bro

“The deck is stacked against us from the start.”

“We’re not successful because unworthy people are getting more help.”

“If we don’t fight like hell for the sake of a New York City dandy on a golden toilet seat, we will lose our way of life. We won’t have a country to call home.”

You’ve heard these words and more.

It used to come from the fringe of whining losers who need to blame someone for their own stupidity and laziness.

While I can’t call anyone out for their stupid and lazy ways because I don’t know the whole story, I have been called stupid and lazy.

Do I argue the point? Never. Not when it comes from a fringer crying about what they don’t have, didn’t work for, and couldn’t keep if they had it.

But that’s what being a victim is all about.

Who is a real victim?

A movie about Fox News told about the loyalty requirement for the women who were on-air talent.

They were victims the moment they took a knee.

No one talks about the Fox News men taking the same knee.

What’s the victim difference between the two?