I don’t get it.
What possible good does it do? It leads to hypertension and other ill effects to the body and central nervous system. It shortens life spans. It divides families, cities, states, and as recent events have illustrated; it divides nations. I write about anger and other emotions listed under the 26 letters of the alphabet in my book EMOTIONS: Not Your Mama’s ABC’s. Check it out.
What makes you angry?
For me, I have always gone to the aid of the underdog. I fight for the little guy facing great odds. Some of the greatest films of all-time use that storyline. Rocky, Miracle, and Hoosiers immediately come to mind. Non-sports movies about the underdog are everywhere. Films such as Norma Jean, John Grisham’s The Rainmaker, and The Grapes of Wrath are just a small sample of the genre so popular in film and literature.
Under the letter “A” I wrote two stories for the emotions anger and affable. This is the preface for the letter
A
“There were many emotions I could have used for the letter A such as ambitious, altruistic, and one of my personal favorites, aberrant. I chose to go with anger as I can find no living person on this planet that is NOT subject to its effects.
You cannot tell me that even in the misty Buddhist temples of Nepal there isn’t a single monk that has at one time, awaken, swung his legs out of bed, stepped into a pile of goat shit, slipped, and stubbed his toe on the stone wall, and he does not get angry? Not bloody likely.
And, like any well-meaning, unknowing civilization such as our own, we have fucked up the concept of anger to the complete confusion of all. There is the anger of disappointment, the anger of retribution, and another of my personal favorites, just plain old pissed off. More seriously, anger is a dangerous flaw, and leads to the absence of reason when reason is usually exactly what is needed. Anger is also mandatory in some instances. Name one? How about when someone says or does something hurtful to a smaller or weaker individual? Then you BETTER get angry!
Affability is the second emotion considered. Being affable is not as easy as it looks. Wanting to be liked is a feeling which I believe everyone has in varying degrees. I figured out long ago that it’s not important that people like you, only that they respect who you are and what you stand for. Likeability also hinges many times on the superfluous: hair, eyes, body shape, etc. What has always sealed the deal for me is when a beautiful woman laughs. And I don’t mean that oh-tee-hee-hand-cupped-over-mouth dainty debutante chuckle. I’m talking about that deep-from-the-belly-truck driver roar that makes you do the double-take. Give me a woman who is not afraid to laugh out loud any day.
Sexy.”
Mark's Playhouse 