Looking Inside the Cranky Mind
As anyone in the helping professions knows, you can’t solve a problem until you name it. Rage, of course, is all the rage: road rage, air rage, free-floating shoot-’em-up-if-they-tick-you-off rage. “Why Is Everyone So Cranky?” by C. Leslie Charles (Hyperion New York, $22.95) tries to explain why we’re so hot under the collar and how we can cool down. This diagnostic list is included in the book. These are the kinds of statements known to cross the mind of the cranky soul. Please clip and post at work, at home or wherever cranks are found.
The Cranky Code
1. I am entitled to what I want when I want it.
2. My time is important, and I should not have to be inconvenienced by others.
3. I have a right to be impatient or rude when other people are behaving stupidly.
4. I am entitled to special privileges because I am who I am.
5. My family should know I care about them without my having to prove it or say it every day.
6. I’m a taxpayer; I own part of this road, and I have the right to drive as fast as I want.
7. I not only have the right to pursue happiness, I deserve to be happy and I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve it.
8. I’m entitled to cheat a little bit in order to get ahead.
9. I work extra hard but don’t get paid for it so I’m justified in helping myself to a few “souvenirs” from my office to offset what I am rightfully owed.
10. I’m too busy to mince around with false politeness and should be able to tell people exactly what I think without having to worry about their feelings.
11. I deserve the newest, the biggest, the best and the most. It’s my right.
12. I’m going to die one day so I may as well get as much as I can right now.
13. So what if I’m being rude--I never have to see this person again, so what difference does it make?
14. My opinions and views are more valid than anyone else’s.
15. My emergencies take precedence over anyone else’s emergency.
16. The world is unfair, and opportunities are limited, so I may as well get all I can while I can, regardless of who or what stands in my way.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher.