Mean Streak

Mean moments. We all have them, and for almost everyone there are certain people or situations that never fail to bring out the mean streak in you.

For me, it's perceived weakness, particularly in men. Men who whine, cry easily, act like a lap dog around me, are afraid of bees, etc. (if they are not allergic) bring out the absolute devil in me. I don't care too much for weak women, either, but for some reason a girly man will transform me into Satan every time.

Don't even lie. You're mean, too. What brings out the mean streak in you?

I just want to say that seriously not everyone is mean. Getting annoyed and losing your temper is not something I would call being strictly mean. Meanness implies a kind of enjoyment or pleasure in treating someone badly, which I can honestly say I have never felt for longer than 5 minutes without experience terrible regret later.

That being said, I tend to lash out irrationally due to annoyance when I feel like people aren't listening to me or making an attempt to understand me. Like when people tell me what I'm thinking or feeling and they'll have none of my explanations. I also can't stand pride in the sense that someone really has contempt for certain kinds of people to the point where their behavior toward said people is intentionally uncharitable. This usually sounds something like, "so-and-so doesn't take care of his apparence, so he deserves to be treated like a second class human being." These are things that cause me to respond in a "mean" way.

So you don't think that meanness is an inherent trait? Because even if a person regrets it later (and anyone with a conscience would) that doesn't stop even you from feeling mean toward people sometimes - if only for five minutes.

I think it occurs naturally. Watch young children sometime who haven't yet been taught to suppress it.

Originally Posted by Alice

Don't even lie. You're mean, too. What brings out the mean streak in you?

O man, there are so many things. I try to keep it under control in reality, which I've become a lot better about in the past few years, but some things just make my anger control go POP.

First thing I think of is ignorance. In fact, the other night, I was sitting in Friendly's with a few people where the waitress was a friend of one of the people I was with. She came and sat with us and started shit about black people. How blacks "all act" and shit. I wanted to slap the bitch, if only because I know a small-town mind bred her into thinking this.

I can't stand it when people are something they're not, either. They act or feel a certain way based on what a stereotype. I've seen SO MUCH of this, I have a feeling half the population out there has no idea who they really are. It's important to embrace your shortcomings and your assets. Don't fucking mold yourself to fit into a certain clique.

(And while thats usually limited to teenagers, I have seen SO MANY adults acting this way, it really bothers me.)

I can't stand feminists, either - mostly because every one I encounter is so blissfully selective about what they think "womens' rights" are. You want equal pay as men, but you expect men to maintain the position that they can't hit women as hard as they hit men. I want to cram dynamite down their throats.

I don't know - I guess I like moderation in my people.

And I am pretty sure a certain "meanness" lies in people, whether they like it or not. It just takes the right conditions to coax it out of people.

Well, it's natural, yeah. I guess the difference between a "mean person" and someone who is occasionally mean is that the mean person really thinks that there is a situtation where meannness is actually appropriate or good behavior and will refuse to apologize for a certain act of meanness. Like, "he deserved it because he's a dick" or something.

Oh, yeah. I see what you're saying. I'm not really talking about that kind of meanness. I'm referring to the feeling you get when you intentionally want to hurt someone (not necessarily physically) because their personality is so offensive to you. If you'll think about it, I'm sure you'll realize that there are certain people who grate on your nerves so badly that you find yourself avoiding them because deep down you know that, even though you're going to regret it later, you are not going to be able to be nice to them, and will probably even pick a fight with them. Or at the very least you know you're going to end up saying things to intentionally hurt their feelings.

The more I describe this, the more it reminds me of animals who will kill weaker animals in their pack/brood/etc.

I feel the urge to be mean when I hear girls excessively whining about something that happened weeks ago. For example when a girl gets dumped and continues to whine about it to get attention and additional sympathy(deliberately) months after the actual event. In my labs group there is this exact girl who uses her break up with her boyfriend of 1year as an excuse for being late on deadlines and not doing the work. The actual breakup happened in August! I want to hit her roud the face with a frying pan.

Also people who are closed minded and believe every single stereotype they come across. And when people try to be something their not.
I hate that so much!

Ignorance. And people who try and force their opinions on me. I'll go nuts over it.

All of the above, especially ignorance.

I think that I'm worse when it comes to people online who seem to A) Forget that there is indeed another person at the other end of the keyboard or B) Get their jollies from pissing people off for no reason. Normally I'm good with them, but persist and I'll get angry.

An example being these guys on youtube Sprouts and myself had to deal with a while back. They got a bad review from Sprouts, 2 stars and the comment "ouch, watch the autofocus". An honest and semi-helpful criticism. They go back to his videos, and (on pretty much all of them) leave comments like "This sucks! It makes me want to puke!" and "What homosexuals made this, faggots?" Then, because I left positive comments on his videos, they began to harress me. After I stopped replying, they left the comment "F*CK YOU C*NT". I just wanted to hunt these guys down and see if they're that ballsy in real life, because if that was said to my face they would have lost a couple teeth.

And what Jamma says about forcing own opinions... especially the recent debate about letting pharmacists deny women birth control if they dont believe in it. Psh, my god is not your god, gimmie my pills! If not, I hope your 15 year old daughter gets pregnent. We'll see how you feel after that. RAWR!

I hate self-riteous people who think their view is right, especially close minded liberals. I also hate it when these type of people try to force their view onto you. Its alright if you believe in something different, but don't try to convince me. That really burns me up inside.

I also dislike extremely self-conscious girls. Its fine to care about your looks. I care about my looks. People notice presentation, style, hygine and other things. However, when it becomes an obsession and a source of pity and unhappiness, it gets to me.

I'll add more as I think of them. Thats it for now I suppose.

What gets me going is people who argue about things in such a way that if you disagree, you're just ignorant or stupid. I actually do this sometimes in an attempt to piss people off, but it seems that it's not universally accepted as shitfuck behavior. It is, though.

Another thing that annoys the hell out of me is people who watch someone do something and then tell them what they did wrong. It doesn't even have to be me, but just anybody. But as an example: I go buy groceries, and when I come home the girl goes "you should've taken TWO bags so you could divide the weight among your arms, this is really bad for your back." Pisses. Me. Off. My dad does this a lot too.

I also absolutely detest weakness and whininess, especially in women. I guess Alice and I would get along very well. I don't know if I exude some kind of "gentle big brother" vibe or something, but girls seem to have a knack of seeing me as a spiritual scratching post. At least until I either bite their head off or ignore them completely. If you come to me all mopey I will ask "what's up" ONCE, and if you say "oh, nothing...", that's IT, I'm moving on. I have a life to live, I'm not coaxing your whiny bullshit out of you. (Strangely, those with real troubles rarely seem to be the ones that whine a lot. I suppose they're too busy trying to get out of them.)

Soo... what's up sura? :P

I get awfully mean when people talk ignorant/stupid (though I'm really no one to judge, I talk stupid alot of the times as a joke), or type like a 3 year old when they can speak perfect English like:

"i h8 dum pplz"

Oh the irony.

It doesn't take a lot to bring out my mean streak, only a couple of beers and boredom.

People bring mine out when they expect me to adhere to a more rigid set of standards than others have to.

My mean streaks rarely happen, but when they do, they last months. How about yours? Do they flare up briefly and then die or do they take a long time to fade?

I can't stand it when other people don't take care of their body, and just let themselves... go.

For example, I know someone who gets winded just from walking up one flight of stairs. I have to bite my tongue lest I say something I may regret later.

Another thing that drives me nuts are religious mouth breathers (Unless their sinuses are clogged all of the time, then I can understand their plight).

People that cut me off while driving, or don't use their turn signlas properly always get at least 5 seconds of horn from me with flashing lights. I show everyone courtesy on the road. It isn't hard for everyone else to adopt the same attitude. Sometimes I wish I could legally run people off of the road. Would love it.

I think maybe I didn't explain myself properly. By "mean streak," I don't mean getting annoyed or angry. I mean a certain personality type or a certain person who makes you turn completely evil. Like, you want to physically or emotionally hurt that person because something about them just completely rubs you the wrong way. Even when they're being nice or not displaying that characteristic, something about them just makes you want to be mean to them.

Parents who think everyone around them enjoys their little brats as much as they do. Seriously.

I can't think of anything more angering than trying to watch a movie or eat in a restaurant and have some kid screaming and the parents refusing to do anything about it. If your kid won't stfu and is disturbing everyone around you, LEAVE!

It makes me want to slap the crap out of the parents.

Edit: Ugh, I hope this doesn't fall into the category you just mentioned, Alice.

Okay Alice. I can do that.

People that are too lazy to even care for their own bodies get, at best, silence from me. This includes people who don't shower, live in general filth, etc. It isn't hard to pick up after yourself. It isn't hard to keep yourself groomed.

It takes everything in me to not just turn around and shove them face first into a washing machine.

I have always been callous towards gossipers and drama freaks. All you are doing is making everyone else around you stressed out.

And last but most certainly not least, I abhor people who torment those because they are weaker, or different in some way.

This throws me back all of the way to middle and high school. I was beat up on more than one occasion for sticking up for the little guy. I had a friend named Steve, and he had a mental retardation issue. There was always these three assholes who would follow him home, teasing, poking, pushing him around the whole way. Finally one day, I couldn't take it anymore and I knocked one of the jerks square in the face with my instrument case, hard enough to knock a tooth out and loosen several others.
Both of us got the crap kicked out of us for that, but at least they left us alone afterwards.

It infuriates me that there are people like that of all ages. What gives you the right to crap all over someone else just because of how they were born? Those are the kinds of people I have absolutely no tolerance for.

I am a really mellow person, so it takes a lot to get me in an evil streak. Anger (And lots of it) is what pushes me over however. I am not mean just for the hell of it.

Originally Posted by Adeamus

And last but most certainly not least, I abhor people who torment those because they are weaker, or different in some way.

Does that include people who are just emotionally weak? Because those are the ones that make my blood boil.