Current mood:

angry

Ticked Off
At what point is it the right idea to chew someone out, even when doing so is completely nonproductive? When is a cathartic release of anger worth the confrontation and hurt feelings, even when it can't hope to accomplish anything? I'm often unbelievably frustrated with the way things shake out, especially when I'm dead right about some negative situation that's developing, take steps to avoid said situation, and am eventually thwarted and confronted by that situation anyways.

Professionally, these things aren't as big a problem because I'm generally clear about how I feel and what I think should be done. If "bad things" happen, I'm in the clear if I was right and don't wind up responsible for dealing with the mess. Personally, however, it's a much shakier thing. Once the badness has arrived, it must be fixed - and there's nothing as simple as "this is what we pay you for" to dictate how that happens. What happens then is that people who are problem solvers inevitably wind up tackling the situation, and life goes on. If you're a problem solver, though, and you don't want to deal with a situation - in fact taking steps to AVOID the situation - and still find yourself stuck in it ... what then?

There's no question that you (the problem solver) will wind up digging out of the hole again, and you'll probably resent having to do so. This fills you with the desire to have at the person who dropped the ball, but what if that just won't fix anything? It's too late, you're already stuck fixing things. "It could prevent future happenings!" cries the Peanut Gallery. Quite true! This would be tremendously useful ... if it had a pan pizza's chance in a dorm of actually happening. Sometimes you just know that a certain person is a certain way, and they aren't changing.

So - if it doesn't help current times and it won't help future times ... is it worth unleashing? I've always been of the stance that it is not. I try to roll with the punches and wait out the worst of my anger by doing stupid things like updating my LiveJournal. Generically, that timegap combined with a bag of potato chips (a true vice for me) are enough to make me grin and move on.

Every once in a while, though, good gravy - I'm ready to pull on the gloves and go 5 rounds in the octagon. (this despite my utter lack of continuing training, and only vague memories of sparring "back in the day")

Ah well. Cheers.