What is worth your anger?

Luton Airport! Just dropped off the grandchildren there today (with my son!) Hate everything about it from trying to park in the car park, the VERY high cost of parking even for a short time, the long, windy and sometimes wet, long walk to the terminal building (which is also not safe for young children when you are struggling with luggage et al) and the gloomy entrance way and the awful cramped queue for security. Of course you can pay extra (for just about everything at Luton) for a swifter service. Avoid if at all possible!

Then I'll have to find a way for us to disagree Anagram Politely of course!

I get angry with people who dismiss mental health problems as not being real illnesses or think all people with mental health problems are potential murderers.

I get angry with parents who dress their children like little adults.

I get angry with parents who let their children watch inappropriate TV then wonder where they've learned the bad language/behaviours.

Pretty much all of your list, the last ones being personal to you. I think you've probably covered cruelty to anyone vulnerable, or indeed anyone at all, but would add I hate cruelty to animals also find that really upsetting. Minor annoyance compared to the more serious matters you have listed is mums and dads who let their children make lots of noise, and worse still run around in restaurants and coffee shops that gets on my nerves these days.

Angry with people who spit out their chewing gum and leave disgusting blobs all over the pavement. And those who don't pick up their dogs faeces. Agree wholeheartedly with Greatnan's litany and all other examples of pet hates.
Robust is not necessarily insensitive and to disagree is not necessarily to despise or feel superior to anyone with an opposing point of view.For example, I know there have been times when some Gnetters have taken exception to Bags's strongly expressed views on climate change but haven't noticed her getting hostile about it.

Bags doesn't do hostile.

I agree Anagram

I find that being angry makes me feel worse than the person I might be angry with.So I try not to do it.

Just thought of another thing lap dancing clubs in high streets. Wish they could be somewhere else, preferably not in areas where there are ordinary shops, schools, places of worship etc. We have a time share in Bournemouth where we go for a week a year and have noticed a proliferation of these places and I have heard locals say they have changed the nature of their town and it is not always a pleasant place to be on Friday/Saturday nights.

Hunt...you make sense.

I also get angry about most of the things onGreatnan's list but only irritated by stuff like chewing gum, shop assistants, airports etc. I find I keep my anger for big things and either ignore irritations or else make a formal complaint/take action on the irritations!

I am a marcher /protester/ activist for the things that really anger me and for the causes I hold dear.
I am frequently angry with politicians who think I am stupid & treat me and other members of the electorate with contempt!

nanaej - I am in total agreement with your post. I do admire you for doing something positive about the things that make you angry.

Injustice, cruelty, prejudice, many things, but perhaps most of all wanton stupidity. That's nothing to do with people who can't do things or who have never been taught about things. It's people who deliberately choose to be stupid, which in my days as a Catholic I reckoned was the unforgivable sin against the Holy Ghost.

Some colleagues used to call me 'Hannah with her banner' and my DDs always refer to striped jumpers as 'Marching Jumpers' as that is what they remember us wearing when we went to Greenham, London marches etc when they were small!!
Think it is important to stand up & be counted..otherwise you can't grumble!!

Another vote for Hunt. I find it difficult to be angry without becoming over-emotional.
Anger is a strong word. If someone disagreed with you, would you rather they voiced their opinion angrily, or in a calm and reasonable way?
That is not to say there are not things that I feel strongly about, but I find it slightly paradoxical that on this thread, anger seems to be portrayed as a positive thing, but on another, we see that a young man's anger has led him to commit violent acts against a poster's daughter, and we are vocal in our condemnation.

Y'can't beat a good protest march! I went on one last year and felt great [it was about the closure of the last train manufacturer in this country; I think it worked 'cos they're still making trains]. Wish I'd been to Greenham Common; one of my 'lifes regrets'. There were still people there until quite recently I believe? Cruise missiles terrified me; the thought of something so evil moving round the country under cover of darkness, like something from a Grimms Fairy Tale. Shudder...Went on a CND march once, although I was never a unilateralist. Got a badge next to me from the World Disarmament Campaign which, I'm ashamed to say, I'd forgotten about till I found it in a drawer the other day. Some of us in our local group were convinced our phones were being tapped. Never forget going for a smear test only to find the doctor was a member of my peace group. When he suggested we get someone else to do it I was more than happy to agree . When my children were babies I so wanted to make the world a better and safer place for them. I wonder if it is? There's always another fear to replace the last one, but perhaps it's up to them to safegard the world for their children now. I've done my bit. Armchair anarchist these days, me...

jane, I think anger can be both those things you describe. It is a complex emotion. It can be useful as well as destructive. I remember a time when DD1 did something that made me angry and I tried to contain my anger, but my father, wisely, said that if a parent is angry with a child, the child needs to know this or else how do they learn how not to make other people angry? I they don't learn that lesson in childhood, they may well get themselves into big trouble later on. Of course, he was talking about reasonable and controlled and undamaging anger, the purpose of which is to correct the child and to educate it.

I was at Greenham Common. Just the big demo, I didn't live there. Also marched against the Iraq war twice; that made me angry.

I think anger can be very positive; it can be a life saver in fact.

I get angry with people who bury their heads in the sand and refuse to acknowledge or engage with difficult things. They give themselves a quiet life but it is nearly always at the expense of other people, usually their nearest and dearest.

I've not been all that aware of anger on Gransnet. Annoyance maybe.

Yes, I was thinking of anger as a very positive force for good. We ought to be angry about cruelty and injustice. This is obviously quite different from uncontrolled 'red mist' type of rage which results in violence to others.
I don't recall feeling anger towards individuals in my own sphere, except for one man who treated my daughter badly. She has totally forgiven him and is now happily married to a much better man, but I still feel great hostility towards him. I am not sure I could ever be violent, though, I have never struck anyone in my life. I would just like to hurt him in some way.

The person at the end of our road has got so angry about dogs pooping on his front lawn, he's put a sample of the offending item in a carrier bag and attached it to his fence along with a notice requesting that owners take their doggy doos home with them. And there it stays. I suppose it's made him feel better but it doesn't look nice to those of us who are innocent passers by.

goldengirl That's one thing that would make me angry! Especially when you think about the danger of toxoplasmosis to small children. Last time we were on our narrowboat, I was washing up and a dog did a poo right in front of the window, directly at eye level. Its owner did scoop the poop and take it away, but it made me feel sick!

Righteous anger rather than pathological anger?

Exactly, jeni.

In addition to most of the things on Greatnan's list I have recently been very angry with newspapers (one in particular) who deliberately publish stories they KNOW to be untrue, simply to put pressure on the subject of the story to agree to be interviewed. The root of my anger is the same as most of the other people on here who have voiced an opinion: injustice.
I am not an 'angry' person, I don't easily get irritated or take offence, but some things should not be tolerated: so I spend quite a bit of time, effort and money on doing my bit to protest at many of the things on Greatnan's list - and yes, I get angry!!

Violence and sexual assault towards children and the lasting legacy it leaves.