In the same way, ER docs get burned out seeing 60 patients/shift, all of whom are stressed and not at their best, some of whom are dying, and many of whom are looking for a fight. You always have to be prepared for a situation to turn aggressive. And police flip out, and first responders have to quit ... you make allowances as far as you can but eventually the stress takes its toll.

Learning to cope with aggressive customers could be good in terms of developing a manner of response that doesn't turn on the adrenaline jets, but once you feel that burnout starting it's probably better to look for something healthier. Just my 0.02.

I like this, from Dune:

Except I substitute "anger" for "fear".

I thought orgasms were the little death.

Ute, come hang out at my new jawn friday night. I'll give you a pep talk. We can do a little pottery, maybe too.

I like the Tao of Pooh and I like the Litany Against Fear from Dune, really.

But.

Fear is an inescapable element of our humanity. Someone who has no fear is an incomplete human, possibly dangerously so. And the same is true about anger--a necessary, useful, elemental aspect of being human. A life without anger is alien, not human.

What. I. Do. when I'm angry is all that I can control, all that matters.

There's not nearly enough evidence here for me to suggest "what to do" in any example we've talked about. But I would humbly suggest that ignoring anger, ignoring fear, these are responses that might be acceptable in the short term but they are unhealthy if taken to the extreme. Fear and anger are reactions, emotional reactions and my response should be to the cause of my reaction. Addressing the cause is ultimately a better solution. Sometimes, just the mere examination of the reason for my anger makes the unpleasant reaction disappear. Harder to do, sometimes impossible in the moment (Run, Forrest, RUN! The zombies are gaining on yooooouuuu!!), but it's still a better answer, when I can do it.

the same image popped into my mind too.

do you think they'll wrestle over who gets to play Whoopi?

I can do this, PMs sent

last time i wrestled someone over playing whoopi a loud whistle went off and i was forced to talk to the police for days on end.

this is why I love you, you beautiful fool.

I'm beginning to see what the problem is with us, BigV. You take pleasure in discounting anything, anything at all, that some people have to say. UT said he hates confrontation and I suggest a little strategy for coping, a little tiny piece of amethyst, and you turn it into a big fucking deal about the nature of human beings, short-terms, extremes...jaysus.

you're a stylist in the worst way. no matter what you're espousing the subject is always yourself. You're always teaching us the Gospel according to BigV. It gets old and it gets boring. yes, we see you there, waving. hello, bigV! Grant us your wisdom before the tide washes you away again!!

UT's unpleasant feelings while dealing with crap humanity isn't a dangerous slippery slope leading him to shoot pedestrians from a tower. Little ways of dealing with nuttiness are helpful-they don't herald the end of civilization. I'm not advocating he 'ignore anger, ignore fear' I'm advocating that he control what he can which is his own response to these things in a way that will make him feel calmer and more in control. If there was REAL danger, like a guy walking into the jawn with a gun, I'm sure UT would figure out what to do without even having to think about it.
sheesh.

Did I mention that I have not one , but TWO swords displayed on my hearth?

tl;dr

trilby--fuck. off.

that would hurt if I gave a rat's ass about you.

Now YOU go fuck off. I'm sure you're much better at it than me.

Trilby seems to have hit the nail on the head...