Anger Management

I got the news about Angelo Dundee's passing from the Internet yesterday.  "First, Don Cornelius, now Angelo Dundee", I said to myself.  I always liked to see Dundee on ESPN Classic's "Ringside" program, where the famous trainer would give his views about boxing.  He'll be missed.

Emmanuel came by with his adorable daughter, Enjoli.  Emmanuel told Alan that he's going to fight in the Golden Gloves this year.  "I haven't fought in four years," he said. 

Enjoli, whom I believe is six or seven years old, amused herself by starting up a quick friendship with another kid who was in the gym Wednesday night.  Josh is the nine year old son of Amanda, a woman who just joined the gym that night.  Enjoli and Josh were playing around the heavy bags and inside the ring.  She had gone into the ring, gloves on her hands, and asked Josh to follow.  Josh's mom admonished him by saying, "Boys don't fight with girls."  I snickered to myself, thinking about all the boys I fought when I was growing up, as well as the guys I've sparred with in the gym.  I stepped into the ring and did some mock sparring with Enjoli, squealing in mock pain whenever she landed a punch.

Jacob sparred with Mike.  I have to give Mike his props, because although Mike tires easily, he does hang in there.  "How do you get someone to come to you in the ring in order to throw punches?" he asked me after coming out of the ring.  "Keep moving around, but don't throw many punches.  They'll think you're not eager to mix it up.  When they come in, throw your punches quickly," I answered.

Emmanuel sparred with Jacob and gave the whole gym some good entertainment.  Their jabs were fast, their hooks were crisp, and they were taking it to each other.  Too bad that Jacob won't be able to compete in the Golden Gloves; he's returned to school, and he told Alan he wasn't going to have enough time to train. 

Igor showed up, which is unusual because Monday is usually the only day he comes in.  I had to get on him a bit.  He took his watch off, walked up to my locker, and proceded to put the watch inside the locker.  "You need to ask me first," I said, blocking his hand.  I'm tired of telling him to leave his watch at home if he's so worried about it.  Igor grunted somewhat of a request, then I let him put store the watch in my locker. 

Abby sparred with Brandy.  Alan and I kept telling her not to turn away from Brandy's punches.  Brandy used to do that a lot, but she doesn't do it much anymore.  When I sparred with Brandy that night, she took the punches and kept coming.  Melinda was turning her back on some of my punches, but when she answered them, she came back with bombs.  I was caught with a lot of body shots by both her and Brandy. 

Melinda told Alan that boxing helps her with anger management issues.  "Do you have problems with anger since you've been coming here?" she asked me.  I had to think about it for a second, and Melinda laughed at my hesitation.  "Not really," I said, laughing with her.  My temper is not as volcanic as it used to be, which is a good thing because there have been situations during the last week or so that surely had the potential to set me off like a rocket.

For example, I was in the computer store last weekend - I had to buy another laptop because my old one just died on me, and could not be fixed.  It was a trip scraping up the money for a new one since I'm not exactly financially stable at the moment.  A kid was in the long line in front of me.  Then several other people crowded in front of me and got next to him.  The kid was obviously holding a place in line for his family members, one of whom thought it was funny because she butted me in line.  When I was younger, such behavior was met by me cursing the offenders out, and pushing them out of the line (which of course, always caused a bigger commotion, but being young, I didn't care then).  I just let the incident go.  I gave the stink eye to the chick in front of me, but I let it go. 

The unemployment office was another source of contention as I had to re-apply for benefits due to making too much money over the weekly benefit I received (I had done some house sitting jobs over the holidays).  I had to wait three hours only to have someone talk to me for less than five minutes and give me a form to fill out.  "You'll hear from us in ten days.  If you don't you have to come in again," I was told.  People already come to the unemployment office depressed, angry, and anxious. .  .sigh.
I could have yelled and screamed, as I was tired from running errands all that day, but it wouldn't have made things move faster for me.

Yes, the heavy bags are good therapy.  I need to visit the "office" every week to work off frustrations.