Monday, October 09, 2006 Seares: Temper, temper By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
RUNNING quip at coffee club sessions of local journalists and other scoundrels is how many times Mayor Tomas Osmeńa doesn’t get angry at someone or fume over something. (Rarely.)
Twin to that is a standing bet for a hardy scribe to count how often Tomas blew his top, flew off the handle, or hit the ceiling in a given year. (So frequently one loses count.)
There are many reasons a public person should not lose his temper. Cliches teem on minuses of getting angry—People flying into a rage make a bad landing. Temper displayed on stage is indecent exposure. Nothing can “cook one’s goose” quicker than boiling temper. If one loses his head, how can he expect to use it? ... Long list.
Out of synch
Yet, there are times when rage can’t be tamed or isn’t unjustified.
Gov. Gwen Garcia must have thought so when she lashed at NGO rep Cherry Ballescas at a Capitol meeting last Thursday. Gwen must have known something we don’t know, seen something sinister lurking.
But hers is an image of grace under pressure, cool under fire. Gwen is not Tomas who, oh boy, probably needs a forklift to lug all that anger.
Gwen’s outburst was out of synch.
Thus, along with standard sound bites, VIPs in the news need “damage control” wit.
Fiery British poet Walter Landor, after a bad lunch, threw his cook out the window, onto a bed of flowers.
