Great morsel of wiseness, Hoysted! I grew up in a household lorded over by the war-damaged step-father. To answer back to no matter what kind of charge was "back-answering" and absolutely verboten. Anger was repressed - coming out on bike-rides to school - blubbering at myself, actually - about the unfairness of my life. (No Robinson Crusoe, I - I came many years later to understand.) But an outburst such as yours at Dongface - not within my make-up. And I have noted that at the couple of times I have been accused unfairly of anything - each time I went into a kind of blank-faced inability to rise to the attack - no retorts or counter attack. Analysing it later I could see elements of psychologically still facing the step-father and his accusations and prophecies of my lack of anything positive. Ever. "I think we should send you to the CBC" - was one frequent threat. Discipline being the subtext - which I deserved. Of course CBC meant the Christian Brothers College in the town where I grew up - and had I been sent there - well - a Royal Commission a few years back exposed some of the things going on in such institutions - a bit more than "discipline'! You construct a great reflection on anger - its repression and its explosion. (A relative of yours recommended this site - I'm glad she did. I last saw your Dad in H in 2014.) Jim
Great morsel of wiseness, Hoysted! I grew up in a household lorded over by the war-damaged step-father. To answer back to no matter what kind of charge was "back-answering" and absolutely verboten. Anger was repressed - coming out on bike-rides to school - blubbering at myself, actually - about the unfairness of my life. (No Robinson Crusoe, I - I came many years later to understand.) But an outburst such as yours at Dongface - not within my make-up. And I have noted that at the couple of times I have been accused unfairly of anything - each time I went into a kind of blank-faced inability to rise to the attack - no retorts or counter attack. Analysing it later I could see elements of psychologically still facing the step-father and his accusations and prophecies of my lack of anything positive. Ever. "I think we should send you to the CBC" - was one frequent threat. Discipline being the subtext - which I deserved. Of course CBC meant the Christian Brothers College in the town where I grew up - and had I been sent there - well - a Royal Commission a few years back exposed some of the things going on in such institutions - a bit more than "discipline'! You construct a great reflection on anger - its repression and its explosion. (A relative of yours recommended this site - I'm glad she did. I last saw your Dad in H in 2014.) Jim