It’s hard to stay cool in a world where tempers often boil over

Professional tennis player Daniil Medvedev was fined $42,500 for unsportsmanlike misconduct and racket abuse following his outburst at the US Open tennis tournament recently.

The fine was almost 40% of the $110,000 in prize money he earned for appearing in the first round of the grand slam at Flushing Meadows.

His opponent, Benjamin Bonzi, threatened to walk off the court at one point during the match and called for the Russian to be disqualified.

Things started to go wrong for Medvedev when Bonzi was interrupted from serving after a photographer absent-mindedly walked onto the court.

Medvedev lost the plot when the umpire gave his opponent an extra serve because of the disruption. He directed a mouthful of abuse towards the chair umpire, but it was his behaviour when he returned to his chair at the end of the match that was most disturbing.

He smashed his racquet by repeatedly hitting it off the bench beside him. When the racquet was in smithereens, he took a short break before picking it up again to smash it some more.

Medvedev seemed to be completely out of control, and it all took place in front of a young boy who was standing directly behind him.

It wasn’t a great example to be setting but the Russian isn’t the only culprit in that regard. There’s no shortage of people losing the head, and I think there’s more anger being vented these days than ever before. It’s everywhere, and it doesn’t take much to set people off.

I was driving to the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork around 10.30am last week. It was mid-morning, and a long way from rush hour, so the traffic wasn’t heavy.

When I hit the roundabout at Cobh Cross I stopped as there was a truck coming from my right. It was a bit away and I could have made it, but I allowed him to pass.

A car behind me, a Ford Focus or similar, started blowing its horn which was a pointless exercise. I wasn’t going to pull out in front of the truck, but the driver, and I think it was a female, was clearly unhappy with me.

As soon as we entered the main N25, the car took off and passed me like a bat out of hell, and almost immediately found its path in the overtaking lane blocked by another car.

The driver was furiously flashing her headlights at that car to get out of her way. Her aggressive driving continued for as long as she remained within my view.

She was a danger to herself and others the way she was going, but maybe she had an emergency, in which case if she had put on her headlights and hazard warning signal, she would at least have alerted other drivers to her plight and may have received a more compassionate response in return.

Or maybe she was just an angry road-hog.

Less than 24 hours later, I was stopped in traffic in Midleton waiting for the lights to turn green. There was a hold-up of traffic going in the opposite direction because further up the road behind me a guy wanted to enter a filling station, but traffic had blocked the entrance - so, basically, everyone had to wait for the lights to change.

A guy opposite me rolled down his window and started shouting at other drivers, including me. He was actually spitting with temper, and he was red in the face, but I had no idea what he was on about.

I suggested to him that maybe he should calm down, but that just seemed to cause him further aggravation.

After a few seconds, we were all on the move again, so he didn’t achieve anything really, apart from getting himself all worked up and putting unnecessary pressure on his heart.

Anger is all over the internet too. I’ve only recently discovered TikTok and already I’m getting fed up with it.

There’s no shortage of videos showing idiots using their camera phones to intimidate police and security personnel by approaching them and aggressively demanding badge numbers while refusing to identify themselves.

It is particularly prominent in America, where these people insist they have a First Amendment right to film public officials and establishments while making a general nuisance of themselves. When they are asked why they are doing it, the usual reply is “Because I can”.

There are hundreds of online videos showing the police stopping vehicles for the purpose of carrying out various checks, while the drivers refuse to hand over documents or even to give their names.

They make a huge fuss about their rights being infringed while behaving so unreasonably that they often end up in custody.

So, what do they achieve? They drive up their blood pressure, delay their journey, and confirm their stupidity by posting the videos online for all the world to see.

This type of nonsense is not only taking place at ground level either. Bad behaviour is also increasing in the sky.

According to an article in the Irish Examiner, the number of incidents involving difficult and unruly passengers on commercial flights operated by airlines certified by the Irish Aviation Authority more than tripled last year to more than 1,400.

There were a total of 1,432 ‘events’ during 2024 involving a difficult or unruly passenger compared to 426 in 2023 - an increase of 226% over a 12-month period.

The figures show that troublesome passengers were the second most common source of potential safety incidents after bird strikes last year.

Angry people will always be with us, and we can’t control how they behave. We can only control how we react, and the best thing is not to let people like that interfere with our day.

Easier said than done sometimes.