It's My Life . Emotions . Dealing With Anger . Furious Fables . Flagrant Foul


	What makes you really angry? How do you deal with it?

Flagrant Foul

Memorial Day was one of Manuel’s favorite days of the school year. Why? Because there was no school of course! Manuel decided he was going to take full advantage of the day off and spend time playing basketball. On his way out the door, Manuel’s best friend David called. David
had nothing to do, so Manuel invited him
to play ball.

When Manuel and David got to the

Topics on
Dealing With Anger:

The Fire Inside

What Makes Us Mad!

Keeping It In

Letting It Out

Think Positive

Getting To The Source

Other People's Rage

From the Mentors

Furious Fables:
Cast Your Vote!

Science Fair Freak Out!

Flagrant Foul

Bottled Up

basketball court, the two friends began to shoot around. David suggested they play a little one-on-one. The two were having fun at first, but then Manuel noticed David started acting strangely every time he missed a shot or when Manuel would make one. He would say a bad word or slam the ball down really hard on the court when he dribbled.

Finally, Manuel pulled up for a three pointer and made it. He had won the game! He turned to David to shake his hand and say "Good game,” but David slapped his hand away. “You cheated!” screamed David. “A real friend wouldn’t cheat like that, so do me a favor and don’t ever talk to me again!” With that, David stormed off the court and left. Whoa! Manuel knew he hadn’t cheated and couldn’t understand why David had accused him. What was
going on?

1. What do you think made David so angry?
He was probably angry at Manuel for playing better.
He was probably angry at himself for losing.
He was angry at losing, but there are probably other things going
on in his head that have nothing to do with basketball.

2. If you were Manuel, how would you handle
    the situation?
I would find David, convince him to play again, and then let
        him win.
I would back off and then call or e-mail David the next day to find
        out what’s really bothering him.
I would wait for David to come and apologize to me.

3. If you were David, how would you have done things
    differently?
I would have kept playing until I finally won, so I would feel better
        about myself.
I would have realized that my feelings were about to explode, and
        asked Manuel if we could stop playing basketball and do
        something else.
I wouldn’t have been such a sore loser, but I still would have gone
        home to chill out by myself afterwards.

Next story: Bottled Up.

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