Anger

Today I had to stand between two boys as they yelled at each other. Their fists were clenched, their eyes furious. There was the very real possibility that they would have began to exchange blows, and I would have been caught in the middle. One of the boys is a bit legendary for his determination in fights; he's been pulled off of much, MUCH larger boys while strangling him. And there I was, arms spread, other staff rushing over to pull them apart. The other boys were quiet, backing away, slightly nervous. It was a bit of a heart-stopping situation.

They were fighting over a shirt. Specifically, whether or not a certain shirt advocated gang activity.

Driving home, I thought about what happened. This isn't entirely uncommon; what was uncommon was the sheer stupidity of what they were fighting over. But then I realized that we are all fighting over stupid things. I lost a good friend because she decided to have an affair. It was a disagreement that dragged on for a full year until it finally came to a head, and she cut me off. Now, I look back and wonder how we even managed to stay friends for as long as we had; she was one to always pick fights, and, I admit, I hate admitting defeat.

We all have stupid things that set us off. Sure, most of us won't almost come to blows over a hat, but a lot of us will cut people out of our lives because of miscommunications, disagreements, or just sheer stubbornness. At least these boys will admit they're being stupid (sometimes). But I know that for me at least, admitting I was wrong is incredibly hard.

We need to grow up. We need to learn to let things go, to not instigate fights over dumb things that will be meaningless sooner rather than later. Maybe then we'll start living lives with happiness in them instead of anger.