There have been a lot of Facebook fights of late. People are scared, and they’re only brave enough to lash out if they can do it from a distance with very few consequences. I try really hard not to feed the trolls, but, as with everyone else, my patience is paper thin.
As I write this, I’m watching a live video feed with my governor and multiple nurses, in celebration of National Nurses Day. Even as these heroes talk about what it’s like to work on COVID-19 wards, trolls are commenting that it’s all lies, and that no one is really sick, and that this is just some twisted conspiracy to keep people from working. Attacking nurses on National Nurses Day seems like a new low to me.
I was also attacked online the other day for saying that as a bridgetender, I blow my horn at 8 pm to thank the frontline workers. This guy immediately jumped on there, infuriated by the number of times we bridgetenders have made him late to work. He said a bridge opening for a sailboat would often cause him a 20 minute delay.
First of all, the average bridge opening only lasts 4 ½ minutes from the time the traffic light turns red to the time the traffic gates rise back up, and I’ve never, EVER seen it take an additional 15 ½ minutes to clear traffic afterward. I’ve never seen that in 19 years as an operator. It may feel like you’re sitting there for 20 minutes, but trust me, you’re not.
I often wonder why people who get so irritated at drawbridges don’t simply take a different route. But I think it feels safe to be outraged at an inanimate object. Those iron girders can take it.
I think a lot of people are angry about any number of things, and don’t have the skills to deal with their anger, and therefore express anger at ridiculous things instead. That guy that jumped on my case told me that Seattle drawbridges are a pet peeve of his, and that any time a bridge opens, it infuriates him.
Um… Get over it? It’s a situation that isn’t going to change. Why would you allow fury into your life several times a week? Either take a different route, or reframe it as an opportunity to step out of your car and get some fresh air, or maybe try and figure out why you have so much anger inside of you, and get some help to learn how to deal with it effectively.
Becoming infuriated by something you know you’ll be exposed to multiple times in the course of your life seems rather self-destructive, and frankly, insane, to me. Getting upset at a drawbridge is about as silly as getting upset every time it rains. Rain happens. Bridge openings happen. What on earth is the point of all your impotent rage?
I suppose, in light of all the anger that’s floating around out there, the rest of us just need to breathe deeply and not let their anger enter into us. Don’t feed the trolls. Don’t become one yourself.
But man, that’s easier said than done these days.
An attitude of gratitude is what you need to get along. Read my book! http://amzn.to/2mlPVh5
The View from a Drawbridge 
That guy can move to a place where the bridges don’t lift. There are plenty such towns in Cascadia. I’m working on anger issues myself. Stay safe.
I think he already has, which makes his continued anger even more perplexing. Anger enslaves us all. Stay safe as well, dear Angi.
Yeah the dude that gets all bent out of shape over drawbridges… I look at it like the lift bridges are flipping him off but that’s the mean side of me. I don’t like feeling and being mean even after the mistreatment I endured. That guy needs help with anger management .. I honestly hope the guy gets help without denying that he needs help. Anger within consumes the whole self and functioning while living in that state of mind is impossible. I have IBS and got stuck by a drawbridges more than once… Wow.. That takes a lot of willpower. I suffered greatly only consumed with my own suffering, not the drawbridge at the moment. Now I laugh when I tell people about it.
That’s when turning around and hitting a convenience store makes sense. If you’re not blocked in. Hope I haven’t made too many people uncomfortable like that!
I was blocked in. There are drawbridges in my hometown where I use to live and it was not unusual that I got trapped either by a slow moving train or a drawbridge when I needed to run to the loo,
urgently.
Ugh. What a nightmare.
He needs to stop making pets out of peeves. They make the worst pets. 🙂 Humor helps deal with my fear of others irrational anger but it does concern that he’s behind the wheel, out on the road, with all that pent up rage. Hope you don’t engage him directly. He knows where you work. Be safe, but continue to proudly blow that horn and know we also appreciate the valuable essential service that you bridgetenders provide.
Thanks Lyn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aisvvAQAH_g proof that it’s nowheres near 20 minutes. Video was less than 5 minutes and is actually kind of calming to watch.
My second favorite bridge to operate here in Seattle. And I’ve now posted this video in my Drawbridge Lovers Facebook group, so thank you for sharing.