The new form of communication: YELLING.

Have you noticed that for some people the newest form of communication is YELLING? It seems they believe that if they say something loud enough, often enough, with enough anger, what they are saying will miraculously become true. Unfortunately, for listeners without much discrimination, this can work. For the rest of us, yelling only signifies how lacking in confidence the speaker is. Yelling can also indicate fear.

I was trying to remember the last time I actually raised my voice and yelled. It was 2002. My 5-month old, blue merle corgi Jazz had recently joined the family. We were taking her, on leash, for a walk in the neighborhood. A boy about eight or nine years old had let his large black dog out of his yard off leash. The dog charged us. Jazz suddenly pulled in the opposite direction and her collar slipped off her neck. She ran away.

I stood in the middle of the road holding the leash and collar, scared for my dog’s safety. She didn’t know the neighborhood or where our house was. She was young. We lived in the country with lots of predators all around us. There was a train track close by. I feared for my dog’s life.

I yelled at the boy telling him how he had endangered my dog’s life by letting his dog out of his yard. I was scared and angry. This wasn’t the first time this particular dog had been allowed to roam our neighborhood.

  I searched for Jazz, fearing she was gone forever and would most likely be lunch for a coyote, bear, or cougar. When we got home, there was Jazz sitting on the porch waiting for us.  Relief flooded over me and she lived with us for another 13 years. As an aside, I learned that the particular collar she wore was defective. Although I would make sure it was on her securely, unbeknownst to me it would loosen as we walked. Once I discovered this, it went in the trash.

When I watch public figures yell, I realize this. They are scared. They are angry. They are insecure. I ask myself, “Why?” Maybe if they yell loud enough and long enough even they will begin to believe themselves. For me, when I hear them yelling it is a sign they are scared. Maybe they should be.