I am not a quiet guy!

What is on my mind is soon on my tongue.

When I feel I am being abused or picked upon (a feeling I get quite often) something in my stomach (or thereabouts) explodes. It can be called rage or tension, but it is real. Sometimes I say I can put that feeling on a scale and weigh it. It is that actual.

I do not know if I turn beet-red when that feeling occurs. I do not look at myself in the mirror at that inauspicious moment. I am too busy with a verbal or sometimes a written reply to the one or many who are causing my conflict.

Being inappropriate is a huge sin in our society. Were the Founding Fathers a bit too rash with King George then? Were George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson inappropriate? I think not.

Is there "righteous anger?" I think so.

When reacting to an abusive stimulus there is nothing worse than being "shushed." I am not sure that "shushed" is a legitimate word in the dictionary. (and I just looked it up and this is the dictionary definition - "To try to quiet; hush up, especially by making a noise like the sound (sh): Related to HUSH).

I am now making an appeal to my friends, colleagues and acquaintances. "Don't Shush Me!" It only adds fuel to my fire and makes me more determined to state my reply to my abuser. If I am treated with "Tincture of Time" I will eventually return to the sane, intelligent person that everyone knows that I am.

Shush me and the gauntlet is thrown down.

Sitting on my deck writing this column is soothing to me. It allows me to gather my feelings in a peaceful and serene manner. But I realize that somewhere in my organs lies a switch that turns me into an almost - robot when being maltreated. That is why I am a columnist. It is called venting.

Being shushed just compounds the issue.

Please, please "Don't shush me."