ANGER LEAVES OFF ONLY 1 LETTER

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas talks about curbing his anger in his new book My Grandfather's Son. It's a good read about a good man and good Justice.

Anger rears its ugly head too often for me. Bad drivers, bad drives, bad plays, bad calls, bad breaks--those sum up about all the anger I have and haven't learned yet how to control it.

Oh, I do much better than I used to. But make me stop at four or five red lights in my city where they seem to think the wait at them needs to be an inordinate amount of time, and I'm reacting. Slamming my gear shift into park while mumbling about burning out my brake lights--fat chance. Umpires and refs who although much closer to the live action than I missing obvious calls that hurt my team(s). My reaction: loud yelling at the tv or at the park or stadium.

Players are not exempt either. "The ball was never in the strike zone. How could you swing at that"? or "Can't anybody on the field tackle?" Yep, those are faves of mine.

Bad slices or pull hooks off the tee, especially on Par 5's and I'm mad as a hornet at myself. While I may hit many great shots during a round of golf, I'd sacrifice them all for ordinary shots without any stupid shots that I invariably hit. Plus, if I keep track of my score after 8 holes, without a doubt I'll choke on the last one.

Finally, drivers who tail gate me or don't signal are fair game to my frustration and anger. That is, I'll react to the poor passenger in my front seat with a verbal carnage only best described as outrage. Not at the passenger. I know who causes me grief: the poor one seated next to me though has to hear my vent.

As I said, I'm making progress. But it has been a lifelong project. Fortunately, it's not a lasting anger. I feel foolish after my display, but I'm over it. Except when a driver makes me miss a green light and...