I’m a very passionate person; not many people would contend with that notion. However, some things that people do arouse, not only frustration in me, but anger. I know that the Bible says to be “slow to anger”, but some things cause me to get aggravated quicker than others. For instance, one relatively minor irritation of mine is when people unnecessarily honk their horns, or honk for extended periods of time. I understand if someone is about to hit you, but there is no need to lay on your horn for fifteen seconds. My boyfriend enjoys participating in this irritation of mine and honking my horn when he drives my car.

Another minor irritation, is when I step on a melted ice cube while wearing socks in the winter. My feet are already naturally cold, so I try to wear socks sometimes to keep them warm. Stepping on melted, but cold water defeats the purpose of said socks and frustrates me to the “n”th degree.

These might be minor irritations, but few things drive me to real anger. One thing that makes me very angry is when parents over-punish their children in public places. For the past four years I have worked at a family entertainment establishment where parents are encouraged to play and interact with their toddlers. All children get tired and whine at times and, yes, they are more than capable of causing a big scene with a temper tantrum.

However, I don’t believe it is ever right for a parent or any adult to get angry at or hit a child in public. If a parent needs to discipline a child, it should be not be done in a store or public place, but rather at home where the matter can be discussed and dealt with.

Once such instance that infuriated me is the following story. The owner of a daycare brought approximately seven children into the facility which I worked. She then proceeded to turn the children loose to play in our ball pit area. As the children played, she would order food (with her company credit card) and proceed to read a book and eat. By and by, a boy who looked to be about three, exited the pit area and approached his caretaker to inquire as to a cup of water. She then aggressively grabbed him by the wrist and informed the boy that this was HER time and not to bug her. After hours of being rude to these children, the children’s parents would come pick them up at which point in time the “caretaker” would become sweet and loving to the children and hug them goodbye in front of their parents. This scenario was typical for this woman as she often would bring the children in on a regular basis.

Several things anger me about this behavior. The main thing is that I never witnessed the children ever do anything that was remotely disobedient or rude to this woman and yet she was cruel to them. Secondly, the fact that she used the children’s parent’s money to pay for her grotesque intake of nachos and yet was not even willing to give the children water. Lastly, that her behavior was manipulative in front of the parents exhibiting no integrity at all.

I hope I never subject my children to this kind of treatment.