He's sitting in my angry chair

I cannot tell a lie, I get angry.

My friend KH often remarks that I need to let all my anger go. She suggests that I would, in fact, be much happier if I stopped harboring anger from old hurts, harsh words or misguided slights.

I never considered myself an angry person, especially in light of someone elses. I have never punched a hole in the wall, or raged, screaming at the woman behind the airline ticket counter. I have yet to damage another person's car because they were parked too close. I reserve my middle fingers for rings.

Recently another friend called me on his way home from work. Apparently he had angered a fellow driver and that person had opted to follow my friend home. Being no idiot, he of course did not lead him home but drove himself -- and his friend -- on a cheery ride through town. An hour (60 minutes!!) later, his friend finally threw in the towel.

That story left me pondering: what would that man have done if he had followed my friend home? Yell? Curse? Hit? Was being cut off in traffic that big of a deal? Why couldn't he just crab to himself and drive on? What possesses a person to spend an hour of his evening, his free time, to track another driver?

Of course, I had to research.

According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, "On average, at least 1,500 people are killed or injured annually as a result of highway violence. And these figures don't include other forms of highway crime such as violent car-jackings, drunk driving, random snipings, thrill shootings, highway armed robberies, hit-and-runs, and objects thrown from overpasses."

When did we become such angry, vengeful people? Why does the silly actions of someone else become a rage-inducing reason to commit violence? Personally I blame George Bush.

Yes, I've been angry but never that much. Usually it's just enough to make me cry so hard I might pee my pants a little. But even when that happens, a tad bit of detergent and it's all just a memory.