The 50 Plus Male

Over the past few weeks, we have evidenced cases of seething anger at town hall meetings held nationwide to discuss restructuring our healthcare system.  These outbursts haven’t been isolated to just a few instances.  Newscast after newscast has shown significantly sizable portions of attendees at many of the gatherings, well-represented by males 50 plus years of age, almost taking on a mob mentality.

Entertainment and sports broadcasts have also provided an increasingly disturbing share of rage and otherwise rude behavior…Christian Bale’s tirade at a co-worker while filming a movie is a prime example, as is the recent case of Serena Williams verbally blasting a lineswoman during a tennis match.

I know what you may be thinking: of course we’ve seen many 50 plus males “losing it” at the town   hall meetings, after all, healthcare is a sensitive issue and becomes more acute as we age.  Christian Bale has long been known as an intense actor given to the occasional eruption.  Serena Williams is generally thought of as one of sports more gracious figures and her behavior, which occurred at a key point in her semi-final match at the U.S. Open, was an aberration.  However, the obvious question lingers; is any of this a legitimate excuse for these actions?

As a 50 plus male, I’d like to think that my generation has the experience, fortitude and most importantly maturity to contain much of this behavior in our own lives.  Notice I didn’t say all of it, just most of it; there are obviously circumstances where anger is indeed justified.  Most of my friends are what I define as “slow-burners;” they are not prone to immediate Mt. Vesuvius-like explosions of fury.  I’d like to think I fall into this behavior group, but it’s honestly only come about as I’ve grown older and become more tolerant.  Don’t mistake this for folding under pressure or not being capable of holding our ground, we just try to do it by first exercising some common-sense and grace.

It seems as if we all need to collectively take a deep breath and re-visit the words “courtesy” and “decorum” in the dictionary.  As a 50 plus male, I suggest we need to lead and not follow; now if  only I can remember this edict the next time someone cuts me off on the road so I allow my horn to do all of the talking instead of my social finger…

-Neal