Last Sane Man Standing - Blog of Corey Deitz

"Anger Management"

January 28, 2008

Our motto is: "Nice Guys, Bad Attitude". It is displayed at the very top of every page of our website.

So, why do I feel badly when I "go off" on a caller?

Deep-rooted guilt. My mother instilled it into me from the time I was old enough to gurgle. She even made me feel guilty about that.

"Stop gurgling. You sound like....a baby or something!"

To be fair, I should be an adult about this and not blame my mother for my deep-seeded neurosis. (By the way: what's the difference between a neurosis and a pyschosis? One stabbing! Rimshot!)

Here's the thing: we sit in our studio and do that radio show thing. The phone rings all morning with people on the other end. It's almost like working at a customer service counter:

"How much are the tickets to Seether?"
"I hate that song, why do you play it?"
"Tell those idiots on the road the stop driving like a-holes!"
"You're not funny. I never listen to you." (Of course you don't. How is it you know our number?)
((("You said one thing and in my head I heard something else. Why did I perceive it that way?")))
((("I'm going to tell you something which isn't funny. And when you don't laugh, I'll be insulted. Okay?")))

Man, we get all kinds of calls. Admittedly, #5 and #6 are not actual calls, just what callers are thinking in their heads when they do call. That's what the ((( ))) stuff is. It's supposed to represent echoes of thought waves in a typical listener's head.

We really TRY to be decent, courteous, understanding, and helpful. We really are nice guys.

BUT, sometimes it's not possible. Why? Mondays. Absurdly Stupid Questions. Your Personal Chromosome Defects.

And then it happens: we have to go off on someone. It doesn't please us to do so. It's one of those "This is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you" things.

And honestly, it does. I always feel badly about something I said to someone during the course of the show, on-the-air or off.

So, if you have ever been the brunt of either my or Jay's anger, it's not personal. It could just be Monday.