Why do we get so angry?

This is the question that people have been asking for quite some time.  To many it seems never too important unless it deals with them directly.  We are often conditioned to think that as long as something does not directly affect you, then it is no big deal but then isn’t that the trick that Satan plays upon us every day?  Getting us to ignore things going on around us so that he and his demons can continue to rap society at will and with no recourse?  Perhaps understanding better why we get so angry may just help us curtail the primary driving force in many of our thoughts, ideas and actions.

Try this on for size.  An article, from the Associated Press out of Washington, about a 911 dispatcher and the call from a 13 year old girl about an accident that both parents were involved in may just shine some light on the subject.  It reports that “a 911 dispatcher twice told an emotional 13-year-old girl to "stop whining" as her father lay dying after a hit-and-run on a Maryland highway, according to a recording of the call obtained Thursday.  The 911 call came in Sunday after a car hit Rick Warrick, 38, of Washington, D.C., and his fiancée as they changed a tire on a highway about halfway between Washington and Baltimore. The driver of the car that hit the couple fled. No arrests have been made, and police say they have no description of the car.  Warrick was killed. His fiancée, Julia Pearce, 28, was seriously injured but was in fair condition at Baltimore's Shock Trauma Center on Thursday.  Warrick's 13-year-old daughter was in the back seat with her younger brother, and called 911.  During the five-minute call, the dispatcher asks the teen for more details about her location and about what happened. The teen answers many of his questions but struggles at times to remain calm.  At one point, the dispatcher interrupts her.  "OK, let's stop whining. Let's stop whining, it's hard to understand you," he says.  The dispatcher sounds frustrated when the girl asks him to send help quickly. At one point he asks if there's someone else he can talk to.  The dispatcher also questions the girl repeatedly about why her father is lying on top of his fiancée, to which she tearfully responds that it's just how he landed. She tells him that her father was breathing but not conscious.  The dispatcher doesn't ask the girl how old she is and calls her "ma'am."

I’m not sure what this story tells you but it tells me that someone clearly had other things on his mind instead of his job.  Knowing that you have a job as a 911 operator, there will be calls for emergency services requests and many will be emotional which for anyone who takes that job seriously, is the challenge.  As a 911 operator, you must be able to get the necessary information as quickly as you can from the caller without trying to control their demeanor or delivery.  You can acquire the skill of being able to calm a person not by what you say but how you say it.  Speaking in a clear calm voice as you repeat the important things said by that person makes them understand that you get it and soon, they will begin to calm down which is what you will need them to do to gather all of the information that you need.  You need only to treat them as you wish to be treated knowing that if you were calling about emergency services for a loved one; you might not be so calm.

We allow other things to prevent us from living in the moment like maybe something that happened at home or at work cloud our attention and because we feel it is more important to focus on our issues instead of those issues currently in front of us we get frustrated and yes very angry.  When we get angry we will say whatever pops into our heads even if it is contrary to who we really are.  If this is the first time then this dispatcher needs to be re-assigned until at such time he can handle multiple tasks at once without losing his cool.  If he is unable to do that, then he does not need to answer 911 calls and his supervisors should have been better aware of this especially if this is not the first time.

Take a few breaths before attempting to confront any situation if you already have a full plate.  Try and remember that everyone you speak with is not you and therefore will not conduct themselves as you wish to think you might in that situation.  We want others to understand us and if that is the case, we must first understand them.  That’s one way we stop from being so angry plus the fact that now we understand why we are.