The Top Six Rage Inducers - and how to tune them out.
©knape/istockphotoby Gina Lofaro
The world can be a frustrating place. It’s busy, full of people with all kinds of different personalities and temperaments, and can sometimes be very complicated. Rage infiltrates our lives at times when we should be feeling calm and relaxed or even entertained. If you want to enjoy each day and tune out to those rage-inducing elements, there are some strategies you can adopt.
1. Road rage – Probably the most commonly known forms of ‘rage’, it’s what you get when two strangers encounter each other in traffic, one does something to irritate the other and a flare-up occurs. Cut someone off in their lane and watch out! The consequences could be an angry flip of the bird or more sinister such as an out-of-car altercation. Very dangerous indeed! What to do: Pay attention when you’re driving, be aware of the environment around you, and if someone tries to engage you in a bout of road rage one-on-one, try to move on and get over it. Don’t let it endanger the rest of your journey.
2. Cinema rage – All you want to do is sit and relax while watching a movie, then along come a bunch of rowdy patrons, armed to the hilt with noisy packets of chips, high energy and the need to ensure they have a great time while everyone else suffers. You think those hostages who died in a Russian cinema in 2002 were the victims of terrorists? What to do: Try to avoid the most popular screenings, usually when the movie is first released. Relocate away from where the noisy people are and if necessary, summon the usher or cinema manager to sort them out.
©JoanVicent/istockphoto3. Mobile phone rage – It’s every person’s right to own a mobile phone but what’s with all the freaky ring tones, intentionally audible conversations and face-to-face disruption when the phone rings? The Crazy Frog drove us all batty for a while and songs like the theme from ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” or a muzak version of the latest pop hit, while pure gold to their users are pure misery to the ears of bystanders. What to do: Encourage acceptable mobile phone etiquette amongst your circle of friends. Accept other people’s need for kitsch accoutrements in their lives and try to block out those excessively loud conversations that are meant for you to hear.
4. Drive thru rage – Despite advances in technology and customer service practices, why is it that we still can’t get a drive-thru meal without having to switch the ignition off while we wait? Drive-thru’s are supposed to be the ultimate in convenience but it’s often quicker to park the car, walk in, grab your order, return to the car and drive off. What to do: Try a healthier alternative to fast food for starters. If you must indulge, buy over the counter and spare the world the extra greenhouse gases you have to unnecessarily pour into the air while you wait.
5. Automated phone line rage – It seems companies just don’t get it. What they think is providing better customer service is turning their customers off! “Press 1 to go around in circles, press 2 to be hung up on by accident, press 3 to hear our very long-winded privacy policy that will put you to sleep or press 4 to hear these options again.” Come on! We’d all like to press 5 to boycott all the companies who use these ridiculous excuses for customer service. What to do: Voice your dissatisfaction for automated phone lines to the companies who use them. See if you can find an alternative company, who doesn’t use this method, and with whom you’d be just as happy doing business. Otherwise, use the time to compile your shopping list, download new tunes, file your nails or eat some very chewy caramels.
6. Shopping rage – From wayward trolleys to customers who push in ahead of you, shopping is no longer an opportunity to zone out and browse for bargains. It’s dog eat dog and you can come away from your shopping centre, department store or supermarket bristling with nerves. What to do: Shop when the crowds are not around. Avoid eye contact as you walk through busy mall areas and you will notice that people walk around you instead of you having to negotiate them and their kids, trolleys and bags. Assert your position in a queue by standing tall and straight and keeping your eye on the counter.
©abu/istockphotoWhen you get to the end of a day and feel overly stressed by its events including ‘rage’ incidents, do whatever makes you unwind and feel normal again. Go for a walk, take a bath, cook, listen to music that you like, sip a glass of wine or punch a bag. Also, it can be very useful to realise that you are not an island and the rest of the world doesn’t revolve around you. Tolerance and patience are virtues that these days tend to fall way below ambition, desire to succeed and a need for material wealth but we’d all do well to remember them and try to incorporate them into our lives more.
More from Gina at http://www.liveitup.net.au
