“Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.”—Maya Angelou
“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.”—Gloria Steinem
Anger isn't always healthy, but sometimes, you've just got to let it out. Case in point: the stories you're about to read. But while some of these situations are so infuriating that rage seems justified, please, take a deep breath before releasing anger and consider the situation. No one wants a moment of anger, even if warranted, to lead to regret. Here are some of the most interesting and infuriating moments of pure, unadulterated rage that people have shared on the internet.
42. Cuddling a Broken Puppy
The time someone dropped a little pit bull pup at the animal centre I work at.
Tiny little thing, about four months old, gorgeous red nose pittie.
She was covered in blood, emaciated, crawling with fleas and had several huge ticks in her ears.
Someone tossed her outside our gate like trash.
Turned out that not only had she been neglected, but her ears and tail had also been docked by the owner. The vet said it looked like a blunt knife had been used.
That didn't make me angry.
What made me angry was after I called the vet to come over asap, I started to sponge her off, fully expecting to be bitten or nipped. All she did was bury her little squishy face under my chin. I tried not to touch her sore scabby ears but she kept climbing onto my chest to snort under my chin.
I ended up absolutely covered in blood from her weeping ears but I couldn't stop cuddling her and crying.
The anger came like a wall collapsing on me. Everything this pup had been through and all she wanted was to curl up on my chest and cuddle.
I'd never felt that angry and I don't think I ever will again
41. Not One, But Two
When I found out my girlfriend at the time was cheating on me...with two guys...
40. Mother Sabotaging the Relationship of Brothers
When I found out my brother was gay because my mom accidentally sent me conversion therapy information instead of him. Turns out he hid it from me for years because my mom told him that I would hate him if I knew.
39. Flipping Out from the Stress of Too Much
I will preface this with I am not a violent person. Never been in a fight, no previous anger issues, etc.
My last job. Boy, my last job. My last year or so there, I worked from home since I moved a couple years back. They had always treated me as the go-to, even back when I worked in the physical office. Primarily because I was about the only good, competent, thorough person they had. Rather than address this issue, they abused what they had.
One morning, in the span of five minutes, I had literally a dozen things sent to me to do. Not simple things either. No warning, no "heads up, we're short-handed today." Just suddenly a full mailbox with seemingly no regard for my previous obligations. That is what pushed me over the edge, though it was building up prior to that.
Next thing you know, I'm literally screaming in my apartment, kicking stuff (almost broke a cat toy), punching pillows, fuming out the mouth with a rage never seen before. I got so worked up that morning that I was out the next day due to exhausting myself. To be fair, I had decided to be out that day regardless of how I felt just because of the whole situation.
Similar situations happened a few more times over the next few months. Then I got a new job. Stress plummeted.
38. Incompetent Coworkers
I took off a Friday to fly to Vegas for the weekend for my friend's wedding. Told my boss I was not taking my laptop with me because it was a short trip and wouldn't have time to do anything anyway. Told them not to mess with anything. Servers we going strong, backups were tested, I will see all of you Monday.
I land in Vegas, Friday about 10 am, and I meet my friends for lunch. I get a call during lunch that they messed up a server and need to restore it from a backup. I was pissed. I hadn't been out of the state for more than four hours and they already screwed something up. I spend the next hour on the phone with my boss explaining how to spin up a VM from a backup and that I would migrate it when I returned on Sunday.
37. No Appreciation for the Truth
Discovered my boss was defrauding the company out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, wrote a letter to the board and company lawyer exposing this, then got sued for defamation.
36. Cruel Children
My little sister has Down syndrome. She's five. A few months back I was watching her and some of her little step-cousins (who are a little older and who she's never seen before). I'm already a little pissed because she just wants to play with them and they're being rude—not letting her have the toys, etc. But y'know, little kids, they don't know any better.
I reprimand them and go back to reading. Then I hear a slam and my sister's voice calling for help desperately. The little jerks had LOCKED HER IN THE BATHROOM from the INSIDE and were standing there laughing at her cries for help. I swear to god I wanted to throw the brats out the window. I pulled them away (a little roughly, I'll admit it), yelled a little, and had to pick the damn lock to get her out again. Nothing pisses me off more than people messing with my sister. Kids are cruel.
35. Learning the Value of Feeling Valued
When I moved away from home, I was 17. I moved for a boy and also to get away from a terrible home situation. I was abused by my step-dad and treated as an afterthought in my family. I never felt loved or even liked, although I loved my family a ton. It was a painful way to grow up. The guy was in Texas and I was in Michigan. So this meant I wouldn't see my family, perhaps for years. Maybe never.
My sisters and mom were not emotional about me leaving. They were doing their own things and it was like me being gone was just something mild that was happening.
As I was getting my bags ready, I heard my mom making plans to go out that night. I heard her tell someone she just had to wait til I was gone. It absolutely broke me.
I ran into the kitchen and started to just scream at her. I asked her if I meant that little to her. I told her she was the reason my life growing up had been so unstable and that I was tired of feeling like this. I was so, so angry at her. I had just gotten through helping her raise my two brothers, spending every night awake at all hours to feed them, bathing them, diapers, the whole thing. I tried to be a good daughter and when it wasn't enough I just broke. It felt like I was used. Doubly so due to my stepfather and the abuse.
I left that day so pissed off, and when I got to Texas I laid in bed in the dark and just cried. It was an awful time. Since then I've tried to make all my close friends and siblings aware that I value them.
34. Fast Foot Anger
Jack in the Box window worker was having a bad day and instead of handing me my drink he shoved it towards me without looking as I'm reaching out the window for it. The cup shoved into my hand hard enough to pop the lid off and squeeze half a cup of Dr. Pepper into my lap.
33. Bad Prank
My sister called me crying, telling me she's suicidal because our mother pressured her into an abortion.
After hours of consoling her, and being supportive, I hang up the phone and immediately call my mother to give her a piece of my mind. She responds "What are you talking about? Your sister is right here, and she's still pregnant. Here, you talk to her!"
She responds "I just wanted to know what you would say."
32. Stepfather Stepping In Unnecessarily
When my stepfather shoved my Mom because she defended me against him in an argument where he was clearly wrong. Yeah it wasn't a full on strike and no one was hurt but it was still physical and 100% uncalled for.
31. Poisoned Buddy
Somebody poisoned my cat, Mr. Bruce Walker. He was my buddy. He could walk on his hind legs, and follow commands. I would tell him to jump up on this table or that chair, and he would. I could just talk him all over the house. I guess he thought he was a dog. He was my buddy.
I taught him how to walk on his hind legs, and the names of all the things in the house. I did it by touching him ever so lightly on the top of his head. He'd stand up, and I'd keep my finger just barely touching the top of his head, and lead him around like that, on his hind legs, all the while telling him the names of things. Eventually, all I had to do was talk to him. Probably most cats can be trained like that. He was my buddy.
30. The Landlord Thief
I rented my first flat for a year and a half. It was brand new.
When I first moved in I spent a week without a fridge, freezer or washing machine. When they arrived my landlord refused to come over and install them so I had to carry it all up three flights of stairs by myself, install it all, and also repair the oven which was broken at the time after a month of back and forth with the landlord. The place was completely covered in sawdust as well, the jerk couldn't be asked to clean it up for me.
I had several leaks which I eventually had to arrange the plumber for myself, though luckily the company that built the flats covered the cost.
I had to install a phone line out of pocket for £130 which he then refused to cover after saying he would.
A window handle broke through normal use (several flats had the same problem) over winter which he refused to repair and tried blaming me when I moved.
I got that place in better condition than when I first moved in before I moved out, I even repainted.
When I moved out the bank didn't cancel my standing order even though I double checked that they had done so; he took an extra months rent, refused to give it back and refused to give me my deposit.
I went to the estate agents and they said they'd chase him up for it and they didn't, so I asked them again and they explained they put a loophole in the contract saying that if the problem isn't solved after 30 days it isn't their problem anymore. It wasn't enough money for me to go to small claims court over (~£1700) but damn I was pissed.
29. Fired for Someone Else’s Lost Package
When I was younger and had my first "real" job (meaning a 9-5 job in an office with benefits and vacation time after only working retail before that. It was through a temp agency but I had proven myself and gotten hired permanently) an important package was sent to me by mistake so I gave it to the woman it was addressed to.
She lost it and said I never gave to her and being the last person to admit to having it I got fired.
Since my only other experience was retail I ended up back there and I was miserable for the next year it took for me to get back into another office. I came much closer than I like to think about to doing something that would have either landed me in jail for the rest of my life or left me paranoid about getting caught if I managed to get away with it. Either way I'm glad I didn't.
It's been over 20 years now and the hatred has faded to almost nothing but if I ever manage to get a chance for some kind of petty revenge I'd probably take it.
28. In-Law Fraud
Caught my sister-in-law and her husband robbing my mother-in-law blind over the course of several years. Only caught them because my mother-in-law had a stroke and while she was hospitalized they managed to overdraw her account. When the checks started to bounce my (HONEST) brother-in-law asked me to look into it. I found the fraud when scrutinizing two years worth of banking records.
27. Wrong Arrest
The cell walls felt as though they were closing in on me.
It was October 8th, 2016. I had just been arrested for a crime I hadn't committed. A jealous ex-boyfriend of an old neighbor thought I was getting far too close to her and decided to get me in hot water.
I had been drinking, and was in the midst of another drink. Downstairs, on the back steps of my building. I was just chilling, having casual conversations with them. I'd believed they were good people. I went back upstairs, figuring I'd settle down for the night, when my phone rang. I answer it, just because I usually do. "Hello Michael, it's whatever-his-name-was from St. Pierre RCMP, can I come speak to you for a few minutes?"
I oblige, having respected the police until this night. He shows up a while later, and walks right in my door, without a knock or anything. He immediately arrests me, lets another officer in and searches the entire apartment in front of me, taking every firearm we owned with them.
I get put in the police car, left for an hour whilst they talked to each other and the guy who called the cops.
They take me into the station. Never offering food or drink, as they have toby law. They leave me until 5 AM, after I've passed out for four hours. They drag me into an interview room, and read me my rights. I tell them I understand. I'm getting angry now. They take me back to my cell, leaving me again.
I have severe anxiety, and an absolute fear of being alone. I started to pace, getting more upset. I pace for an hour, getting more unhappy by the second. Eventually, I start punching the cell door, and punched it until my knuckles were bleeding and I was crying in pain.
Noon finally comes around. The sheriffs have come for me. Yay. I tell them my story when I'm asked about my knuckles and I can tell they believe me. I spent three weeks behind bars because someone got jealous. I saw the guy one time after that. I told him that if I ever saw him again, I wouldn't be so nice.
I asked for an apology, and he never even gave me that.
I befriended one of those sheriffs, and we still talk now.
Shutterstock
26. Homicidal Partner
Sister went back to her abusive boyfriend who tried to choke her to death in front of her kids. He hangs around them now and they well know what he did. When I saw their picture on Facebook and everyone was commenting "Aw you are back together, you are so cute!" I posted something like "I don't know why you are so happy, this man tried to choke my sister to death on two occasions, plus hit her, and stalked her jealously."
She didn't speak to me for three months and accused me of causing drama to call attention to myself.
I just don't want her to die. Men who choke women are the most likely to kill their partners.
25. Taking Out Grief with Anger
When my nephew died I was furious. I was sad, but I was also very angry that it had happened. I had an 11-hour drive home from the funeral and the ride was mostly farmland. I stopped on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere at like two or three in the morning and cried and screamed. I had a softball bat in my back seat and I took it out and starting hitting some dead tree stump over and over. I was picking up rocks and hurling them across the road as I screamed. I think I kicked my car a bunch too. Eventually, I got myself together and got back in the car.
24. Bosses Blame Game
I threw out my shoulder at work when I did baggage at the airport. My boss came up to me and my coworkers and told me he was telling L&I that it was my fault for getting hurt because he has assumed that I didn't do my pre-shift stretches, and that I would be responsible for the doc visit and X-rays that they took.
Every morning I stretch and do a mindfulness exercise to try and help with my anxiety. He said that and then walked off, but I felt that tingle in the back of my head, and my body went numb. I was ready to kill this guy. But instead, I grabbed my coworker/roommate to stand by in the office to witness me talk to him, and I don't remember what I said but my case was given to the manager above him, I was on work restriction for a month with zero issues, and that guy never talked to me without someone else with him again.
23. Appalling Attack
A redneck used his Ford F-250 to hit my little Nissan... three times, on purpose. All because he didn’t like us young foreign people (me and my friends) driving an imported “jap-crap.”
What gave me pleasure later was that my little Nissan was fine, just had holes on the bumper. His bumper was worse... and he got charged with battery with a deadly weapon and not allowed to own guns anymore!
22. A Mother’s Bad Excuse
When, as a teenager, I was told by my mother "I started smoking crack so I could get off the pills." I slapped her without thought or consideration, hard enough to knock her glasses off.
The fury was instant and all-consuming and all I could think about was how dare she? How dare she look me in the eye and say that sentence and expect me to accept her reasoning? That we were about to lose our home and her kids were going hungry but it was okay because at least it wasn't Vicodin!
God Almighty, it was nearly two decades ago, and the thought of that moment still makes my blood boil.
21. Getting High without Responsibility
I slapped my mom because she told me she purposefully called CPS to have us removed so she could get high without any responsibility.
All the physical, mental, emotional, and sexual assault my sisters and I suffered in foster care... all of it, was because she was too selfish. I still have issues from it, over 20 years later.
And while she got and stayed clean, she still wasn't the best mother, nor did she have the best judgment. I'm still angry at her for stuff, and she's been dead for three years. I love her, but damn it, I just want to scream at her every time I think about all the stuff she put me through.
20. When You Get So Angry, You Get Angry at Yourself
My mother, days before Xmas, telling me along the lines that essentially everyone in the family just "puts up with me" and doesn't actually want me around.
I pulled my arms above my head stifling a scream while on the phone with her, brought my arms down swiftly and elbowed a hole into my grandmother's wall...
I felt awful and even more pissed at myself than I already was.
19. Tearing into the Teacher
In high school, I had the misfortune to take psychology from an absolute idiot of woman. She was consistently incorrect about the biology she incorporated in her class, picked favorites, and was always trying to fit in (??) and make friends with the kids she approved of. She also looked and sounded like the receptionist from the beginning of office space.
One day a girl in our glass decided to wear a very low (I mean looow) cut dress to class, and she obviously regretted it. I wasn't the best of friends with her, but we knew each other. Anyway, so during the class, the teacher kept making these really, really uncalled for comments, alluding to this dress and the type of person who would wear one, and the girl is basically in tears. You could tell a big part of the class was uneasy/appalled.
I already hated the guts of this woman, and it was so inappropriate and mean of her, that when the class was over I just stayed behind and tore into her about what a cruel, insipid, idiot of a worthless human being she was. I don't think I could even see out of my eyes while I was talking. She didn't say anything back to me, and she never said anything about afterward either.
18. Holding On After Tapping for Submission
Guy cranked the armbar tighter after I said tap. I had to shout so that the entire gym heard me. No excuse for that. Thankfully no major damage aside from a sore elbow for a week. Next time I visit that gym I will not be rolling with him again.
17. Family Finances
When my little brother emptied my little sister's savings...couldn't even look at him in the eye anymore. Long-term anger is very difficult to control and definitely puts some mental stress on you. I feel like I really failed as a big brother. I took him for a ride and told him to fix it and get out the house ASAP...been almost a year since he moved out.
In general, growing up I've always been one to express anger at a lot of things, and always sought retribution. Sadly, that hasn't changed much for me. Anger problems definitely run in my family.
16. Standing Up For a Friend
I used to be angry when I was small. A lot actually. But this one time is definitely the most pissed of I had ever been.
So we were sitting in class. Nothing special. We had been told to read our answers to a math assignment out loud. Then my friend, let’s call him Isla (Not his real name), read his answers out loud.
Some of his answers were wrong. Nothing unusual. We all make mistakes, right?
But for some reason, every time he said something wrong one of our classmates would say: “Ha! You couldn’t even get that right? You’re so stupid.”
Every time he did this, I would become more and more irritated. Partly because the teachers didn’t do anything, but mainly because he was a piece of crap.
After the fifth time, I had enough. I stand up, and almost yell at him “Shut the heck up you piece of crap! You’re the one that’s stupid here jerk. Want me to correct you every time you say something stupid you little piece of gunk?”
I sat down. The class was dead silent.
15. Kitty Hit and Run
So I'm driving home on a pretty deserted two-lane road (as in one lane going each way) and see a cat injured in my lane. I come to a screeching halt (thank science I was only going like 45) and stop, blocking the lane with my flashers on. Hop out and check out the cat and the poor guy is lying there with what looks like two broken legs, but is otherwise ok (aside from being scared, pissed, and hurting).
I'm thinking to myself, "dang kitty it's your lucky day!" and as I go to run back to my car to grab a towel to pick him up in, a red Ford Mustang comes hauling itself AROUND my car, almost hitting me and absolutely creams the cat. His break lights never even flashed, he just kept on driving (now keep in mind that he was going probably 60+ in a 45 and could have killed me easily had I been next to the cat still like I had been just a second prior).
I'm 100% certain the kitty would have lived had it not been for that jerk. I've been sitting here for the last three hours just...seething, and I keep hearing the noise it made when he hit the cat over and over again in my head. Like, I have never been so angry at someone in my life. I wish I could have gotten a license plate just so I could find that guy and have a chat. A long...long...chat.
14. EMT Part I
I'm an EMT. We see a lot of crap on the job. Some lowlights include...
A mother was driving her car while putting on mascara in the mirror, not looking at the road, and she drove through a red light at an intersection and smashed into another car. I was called out to the scene of the wreck and then in the hospital I was treating her son, who had broken his arm. She was fine.
The man from the other car was getting prepped for surgery and had to learn that his wife died in the crash. I saw her mangled body at the crash site, the remains of her anyway, but she wasn't my patient. Police were asking questions of everybody in the hospital. When the husband learned about his wife, he broke down crying and said he didn't want to go to surgery until he could see her. The mother screamed over from the other side of triage "Yeah? Well your wife was a [insert worst expletive here], she got in my way and now I'm gonna miss my damn party."
...She wasn't on any drugs or anything that could help "excuse" being so horrifically evil.
13. EMT Part II
Treating a boy whose father thought a fun family pastime would be burning a cigar into his child's eye sockets.
An eight-year-old epileptic who'd severely sliced her leg during a seizure and lost a lot of blood, whose parents stood by, did nothing, didn't touch her, watched, and refused to let us treat her because it was "God's will." (We called the police; that's all we can do during a refusal).
12. Banned from Talking About Dad
The day that my mother told me I was no longer allowed to mention my father in her house because it made my stepfather angry and my siblings jealous. I talked to my father once a week on the phone and saw him a few times a year, and suddenly I was expected to pretend he didn't exist. I stood there in shock for a minute, told her it was the dumbest thing I'd ever heard, and left the room. If someone's head could explode from anger, mine would have.
11. Sexist Moped Anger
Last year I bought a moped. I was riding down a street by my house and stopped at a stoplight next to an SUV. There were two men in the car. One of them yelled for me to get into the bike lane, since apparently I was going “too slow” at 30 MPH in a 30 MPH zone. I thought he was joking so I sort of laughed. I yelled, “it’s illegal”! and started riding, and I heard him yell, “get into the bike lane” before speeding up very quickly and driving towards me.
His car grazed my arm as I yelled and slammed on my brakes. He cut me off sharply and stopped in the bike lane. I started yelling that he could have killed me and was a serious jerk, and he said, “witch, you better get the heck out of my way.” I told him he was a sexist piece of crap and started repeating that I had every right to be driving with traffic, and he then leaned forward and grabbed my arm very roughly.
I am 5 foot 2 and weighed about 100 lbs at the time. My entire wrist fit easily into his hand, and he pulled me towards him. I nearly fell off my bike and screamed when he grabbed me, and he kept shaking my arm and said, “you stupid trick, get the heck out of my way, you better ride in the bike lane you dumb witch.” Then he let go of my arm and said, “keep your chin up, witch” and rode off.
It was absolutely horrible and terrifying, and haunted me for days. Now I carry mace with me everywhere. So, basically, a man tried to run me over and then assaulted me for driving the speed limit.
10. The Dodgeball Jerk
I was in high school gym class and this one kid was being a jerk to everyone during dodgeball. He was throwing as hard as he could at special ed kids, girls that weren't even paying attention, and people that were out. So I get hit, go sit on the wall, and tell myself "If that jerk comes over and hits me, I'll freak out."
So here he comes and he winds up and tags me in the face. I get up and tackle him, and start beating the CRAP out of him. He started screaming and the teacher and a couple other students pulled me off. So we calm down a little and he stands up and starts complaining about me and I just crack him in the face again. I don't know if I have ever been that mad. I know it wasn't that big of a deal, but circumstances built up and I lost my mind.
9. Diary Misunderstanding
I was in the psych ward, and was told I could keep a private diary. The doctors read my diary, misunderstood something I wrote, and accused me of something I didn't do. I was already all emotional from being in there and that just put me over the edge. I'm a pretty quiet person and I've never screamed so much in my life.
8. Kicking a Pregnant Woman
My sister was six months pregnant with her twins when she got into an argument with my ex-sister-in-law over my niece. The ex got mad and kicked my sister in the stomach. I jumped over the kitchen table from a sitting position and tackled her. I was sitting on her, choking her when my dad and my brother pulled me physically off of her and threw her out of the house.
It's the only time I've been so angry I don't remember doing it, I only know because they told me about it. I snapped back to with my dad holding onto my arm and my brother on the other side. My mom and sister were standing a few feet away with their jaws dropped open. It's been almost six years and she's still terrified of me.
7. Driving Reckless
I was driving on a highway in the middle of nowhere. One lane each direction. I came around a corner and see this giant truck coming at me (extended cab and bed gas guzzling monstrosity), he's passing a semi. He's maybe halfway around it, and entering a double yellow area. Instead of slowing down, and getting back behind the semi, the man decides to finish passing.
I slammed on my brakes and got as far over as I could without rolling my car (a little Hyundai Elantra). There were maybe 3 feet between our bumpers when he got back into his lane. That jerk almost killed me and my two-year-old niece, so he could shave five minutes off his drive time. I was shaking I was so pissed, and I seriously considered flipping a U-turn, and tracking him down. It still makes me mad thinking about it.
6. Blinded Guilt Trip
My mum had Stage 4 lung cancer. Before she passed, I spent a year and a half taking care of her. I lost track of the number of hospitals we went to. Or the number of times I woke up at 5 am, fought traffic, etc. just to bring her to chemo. Cooked for her. Managed her medications and later on, her hospice needs. Etc—if you've had to take care of a cancer patient, you know the drill.
My dad did the same for my mom too—when he wasn't overseas with his mistress.
A few months after she passed, my dad tried to guilt trip me into moving myself and my wife back to his house by saying that "I haven't done anything for the family." I went ballistic and smashed up the garage. He never brought it up again.
5. Bully Backlash
Probably the angriest I can recall was when I was still being bullied, which was back in middle school. These jerks had kept pestering me and messing with me for months and months, almost years, so I tried to give them warning to not continue and to just leave me alone. They didn't take the hint. One day, I supposedly had backtalked them and they wanted to fight me after school. All that time of anger, frustration, and low self-esteem had driven me to a breaking point of fury and rage then. When we fought, I had a new-bridled form of anger. Something inside me snapped, and I just took it out on them.
I got badly hurt from their hits, but not compared to them against me. I didn't at least get sent to the hospital for my injuries; they apparently did. I didn't know because I was too busy kicking their butts like the brats they were. Needless to say, they didn't come close to ever bothering me again, and I had a reputation, up until mid-high school, as this troubled kid and someone to not interact with. As a result of their stupidity, I had a lot of trouble making new friends, in addition to my usual personality not exactly being stellar then.
Eventually, though, everything got much better and folks wanted to actually be friends with me. High school was much better than middle school ever was for me, even with another close call of being expelled from fighting then back in freshman year. Needless to say, I haven't gotten anywhere near that angry ever since, and I generally don't get mad at all.
4. Confronting the Murderer of his Child
The angriest I've ever been was when I confronted the guy who murdered my daughter. I had to hear it from him that he was the one that did it. I mentioned how hurt I was and how awful it was to find her like that. He had the audacity to say he was traumatized by the things he saw while he murdered her. I was so angry I couldn't even speak. I had to leave. If him and I had been in the same room and not via screens I would not have been able to control myself.
3. Losing Trust in Man
It was my birthday. My fiancé's ex called me to tell me she was his mistress since the very beginning of our relationship.
I took the train back home. Didn't cry. My mother told me "I've never seen you this angry in your whole life." I did everything for him. I really gave it my all because isn't it what you are supposed to do when you're getting married?
It's been a year. I don't think I'll ever be able to trust a man again.
2. The Wrong Day for a Tow
So I had to work a 4 until close shift. Mid-'90s. Waiter. Broke as a joke. I'm horribly hung-over but you can't call in sick for the 26-ounce flu; so I'm going to work. I stop at a 7-11 for a V-8 juice. 15-minute customer parking. This is important later. I come out of the store and see a Second Cup coffee place across the street. I go in and get a large black coffee with white sugar.
As I cross the street to the 7-11 parking lot, I look up and see a tow truck hooking up my car. Bewildered, I ask the guy what he thinks he's doing. He looks at me condescendingly, and says he's towing my car. I point to the sign and say I have 15-minute customer parking. He replies "You left the property" Getting cross, I say "What does that have to do with anything?" He goes back to hooking up my car.
I am quite angry now. I step towards him and demand he unhook my car. He ignores me. I take another step and say "Unhook my car or I will kick the crap out of you" I have never been so mad in my life before or since. Never threatened violence on someone. Never. He stands up, turns and says "I'll charge you with assault." I drop my V-8; it shatters, the coffee his the ground; spills. I take another step towards him. "And you'll still be in the hospital."
I don't know what I was going to do to that man. I was just going to throw myself at him, tear into him. I don't know, but he must have seen something in my eyes. He turned around, muttering under his breath...and unhooked my car. I stood there shaking for a good five minutes before I could drive. I have never experienced such all-encompassing rage. Screw that guy.
1. Seeing the Worst of the Mother-in-Law
Ex-mother-in-law, who had received pictures of my 2-week old daughter in a cute red dress, a pretty pink ribbon and bow in her hair and an adorable smile, decided that during an argument was severe enough to warrant insulting my baby-girl by saying "Your daughter looks stupid. Why? Does she get that from you?"
My daughter was a c-section baby. My ex tried her damnedest to squeeze her out, but could only dilate to 8 and thus wedged her head a few times. She had a temporary misshaped skull that over the next month normalized.
I was seeing a shade of red that no man should ever see.
Due to the fact it was a phone call and she was too far away to strangle, I settled for setting pleasantries aside and letting her know how I really felt, for the first time ever.
I held the phone in my hand about a foot from my mouth, unable to hear anything she's saying and cursed her existence and sent every word in the book at her for 15 solid minutes.
I eventually hung up without a word extra and to this day have no idea how long she listened, but she ended up calling me back, calling me the bastard lapdog of Satan (she was hyper-religious to a ridiculous level. I called her the Osama Bin Laden of Christianity) and I hung up and never spoke to her again.
P.S. I did this swearing outside. Neighbors were understandably concerned. My daughter was insulated from the incident and heard nothing while still inside.
This was 15 years ago. Have said nothing to her since.
