I’m fascinated by the concept of being outraged, or in other words, deeply offended. There’s something about us as human beings that seems to seek things that anger us on a personal level.

I am at the vet right now and as I waited in the lobby 5, 10, 15 minutes after my appointment, the staff called in a couple and their small dog before me despite they had arrived after me. Since I was on time for my appointment it means that they were either a little bit late for an appoinment at the same time or very late for an appointment before mine. Either way, I started feeling very angry. I imagined myself charging up to the counter and demanding to know why the other group was seen before me. I would start out polite asking nicely why I was still waiting, gently baiting the hook, and then I would lay into them! How dare they! I arrived on time for my appointment. Those people were late! Yada yada.

Of course, there could be a dozen reasons why they got first attention. Perhaps they’d made the appointment weeks ago (mine was this morning). Perhaps theres a small animal room and a large animal room (my dog is large).  Maybe theirs was an emergency, which always takes priority according to the sign on the wall.

In the end I was called in just a few minutes later and other than writing this while I wait for results, the incident was forgotten. But there’s something deeply rooted in our psyches that seems to enjoy looking for reasons to be offended. And there are certainly people who look harder than others. What makes people gather in crowds and scream and chant at convicted criminals on their way to jail. Yes, murder and rape offend our humanity but unless you have a personal connection to the crime, what would compell you to take hours out of the day like that?

I could go on, but in general I’m fascinated by what makes most of us seem to almost enjoy being personally offended by everything.