EBSTEIN: Hot Tempers During a Hot Summer — What Are We to Do?
We know of bad moods. We’ve been there before. During COVID, when we felt isolated and scared, we showed our anger in many ways. We were tough on those who served us. Fights broke out at a moment’s notice. Airlines reported too many incidents where flights had to abandon their destination and return home.
Early in COVID, I shared the story of a baker who emailed his customers before Rosh Hashanah stating that they would serve only courteous people. They reserved the right to send packing any mean or disrespectful customers. The email came as a surprise to many, but we chalked it up to COVID malaise. Life and our moods would eventually improve.
Now comes the story of a flight attendant on a major airline who lost her way when a passenger asked for a blanket. According to the article, the flight attendant “went berserk” and shouted, “You will behave, or we will get off. I don’t want no bullying against my crew.” The passenger asked to speak with the pilot, and in the end, the flight returned home.
I can only imagine the mood of passengers who weren’t seeking a blanket but a destination.
Whether buying challah or boarding a flight, our meanness is back. It never left, but our caustic ways have new intensity. Why?
Here are some possible reasons.
Extreme heat makes us more irritable. In Boston, where I live, the temperatures now tie the warmest summer to date, and we’ve had the most humid July on record. Scientific data suggests a direct correlation between heat and anger.
There is our concern about finances, which definitely adds a dollop of anxiety. No matter how many politicians and articles project a solid economy, most are holding tight. Trips to the grocery or gas pump continue to leave us with sticker shock. I have friends looking for work who thought their experience would speak for itself. One of their unanswered questions is whether to apply the “Open to Work” banner on LinkedIn. Does it make them look desperate or just available? It’s an important question, as 61 million people use LinkedIn to search for jobs each week.
As a solo consultant, I am spared the LinkedIn banner question. But I wonder whether possible projects will be canceled, delayed or put on hold. I’ve been at this long enough to sense the downturn before it’s a full-blown slowdown.
A good response to our testy mood might be to commune with friends and support one another. It can work if we’re careful not to discuss politics, and it doesn’t matter your side. No one is happy. It’s much safer to discuss recent streaming picks on Netflix. That’s well within my comfort zone.
The media influences our mood, and some think traditional news sources have let us down. Gallup reports that only 7 percent of Americans have a great deal of trust in the news, and 38 percent say they have none. The most trusted news source remains the Weather Channel, and while weather is an important topic, it is worrisome that it garners the highest respect.
Our lack of trust in traditional news sources explains why half of U.S. adults get news from social media. This poses two problems. How “real” and verified is the news? Also, are we placing ourselves in a well-fortified echo chamber of like-minded people? This, in turn, can lead to hardening our views, where a likely side effect is that we become agitated when we engage others who think differently.
We can pick the reasons for our mood — heat, economy, politics, media, our echo chamber — and that doesn’t include personal concerns about people in our lives.
So, what do we do?
I start by acknowledging our reality. We are in the “dog” days.
Then, I go back to moments when we defied the odds. Living in Boston, the Red Sox are fertile territory for me. The 2003 victory that slipped away was followed by the exciting comeback in 2004 to win their first World Series since 1918 and officially retire the Curse of the Bambino.
In 2024, we feel many curses, but we can draw hope and a better attitude from strong personal moments that reward our faith. My suggestion? Find them.
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