Mirror Mirror On The Wall

On my bus journey yesterday I saw 2 men in their fifties having a very long and loud dispute. They were standing in their seats and shouting at each other with little care that they were in a public bus or how it would seem to those around. This is a classic case of the “Amygdala Hijack” and I looked on a little amused at the whole scene. I wondered how senior folks could lose control so badly. I got off feeling a little sad at the whole incident and sorry that they had stooped down to such a level. Deep down, I also felt more than a little superior believing that I would never lose it like that.

Well, all I had to do was sleep and wake up. I got into a heated argument with an auto driver the next morning (sometimes I believe that they’re God’s way of building my patience). I reacted poorly before I could catch myself. Even when I realized what I was doing, I didn’t and couldn’t stop because I wanted to put the other person in his place — my emotions had thrown my reason to the floor like a rag doll and stomped all over it. All the unearned moral superiority of the previous day came crashing down. Now when I look back at the older gentlemen on the bus yesterday, all I can say is, “It could’ve been me.”