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All the niggling irritants in your life can lead to road rage It’s the dead of winter, cold, dark, foggy Monday morning. You sneak a reluctant hand out of the warmth of the razai to switch on the light. Nothing! Power out so no geyser, no hot water. As you stagger towards the bathroom, you stub your toe, “Drat !”. The first word you utter is a curse word. Great way to start the day. Shaving or tying a turban becomes a chore. The inverter quit on Sunday and there has been no electricity to charge the battery. Breakfast without an electric toaster is no fun. You snarl a “bye,” to your wife and leave home in a bad mood. The pot-holed roads and the chaos and confusion on them does nothing to cheer you up. Traffic lights are not working, so there is a traffic jam. As you wait, you curse the electricity board. The PWD, the Chief Minister and the minister in-charge of roads. You arrive at the office late, mentally fatigued and in a foul mood and it’s only the beginning. You get to the conference room to make your presentation to the visiting delegation. The computer has crashed, the boss is as upset as you are. As the day progresses, mental fatigue builds up. By the time you are ready to leave office, you have had eight to 10 hours of tension. Mental fatigue is a state where the transmissions of signals from the brain to the limbs, via the motor nerves, slows down. In layman’s language, the reaction time will increase. You are really not fit to drive. Anger and frustration has built up to abnormal levels. Your work during the day has also suffered. This is part of the reason why offices are incompetent. As you wait at the red light, some one bumps your car and cuss words again. Anger is a state in the body when the hormone adrenalin and cortisol rushes into the blood stream and a person gets into a fit of anger. Anger is the worst state of a human mind and it may erupt in a deadly manner. The result can be road rage. After a whole day of being stressed out, the smallest incident may send a person over the edge. Swearing, cursing and even physical violence may result. An angry person will have a tendency to drive fast. Remember your reflexes have been slowed down, reaction time will be longer. Beware ! If possible, pull up on the side. Do some deep breathing to calm your nerves. May be take a five-minute walk to relax. Emotions play a great part in our well-being. The stock market crashed, your son flunked his entrance exam. The daughter ran off with the rascal you did not approve of. All this information could come to you on your cell phone. Avoid cell phone use while driving. An emotionally upset person has a tendency to drift off into his own world, ignoring the realities of the road conditions around him. This could surely lead to more problems. It is possible to buy any medicine from any chemist without a prescription. Indians are famous for self-medication. We also have friends who know what medication to take for any ailment. A lot of medicines come with a sedative as one of the salts. The best example is a cough syrup or avomine for mountain sickness. Both will make you drowsy. Tests are being conducted as to which is more dangerous — a back-seat driver or a nagging co-passenger. It seems to be a dead heat. Leave them both at home. So how do you put an end to a perfectly horrible day? Buy a bunch of roses for your wife, when you get home, give her a big hug and a kiss and say: “Darling! I had a great day! Give me a drink and let’s order in some food. What would you like? Chinese or a pizza?” A great way to prepare for the next day. Happy Motoring!
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