Angry

As I sit here sipping Zinfandel from a glass the size of a small bucket, I ponder why people consider me such an angry person. Admittedly I can be a little cantankerous, I'm more the equivalent of a grumpy old man in my own mind. But apparently not. I am seemingly the angriest person any of my friends know.

It seems a long time ago that a close friend told me that I was the angriest person they had ever met. This is the same person I should add that told me that I should never smile at people because I looked like a "sarcastic pervert" when I did. So I paid no real heed. But as it turns out, almost every person I know has now consented that I am indeed the angriest person they have ever met. Including my boss.

Well, I recently quit my job so she's no longer my boss. But in a hypothetical conversation I was having with a colleague she intervened to say "ooh, I wouldn't ever mess with Joe - he's one of the quiet ones. You never mess with the quiet ones, they're usually the worst of all". Errr, thanks?

This has now been furthered by most of my friends and even some near strangers. When I meet people I am fairly careful not to let them see the 'real' me as it were as I am aware that I more than a little abrasive at times. So I guard myself, make sure I don't say anything too inappropriate. Apparently it doesn't work though as within a few weeks of having met someone on my course, upon learning I did boxercise from a Facebook update - she turned to me and said "Do you do boxercise Joe? I bet that must help with your anger issues". I don't think I said anything back but in reality what I should have done was turned around and put my fist through a table to see what she did.

But it's making me wonder - do you people know something I don't? Am I really that angry a person that many of my friends fear me? I know I'm a grumpy, curmudgeonly, mean-spirited fucker who laughs at (awful) things, but do I really have anger issues?

Fuck off do I!