Threw pint glass over argument with parents while viewing TV

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Tequila
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30 Jun 2011, 4:29 pm

As title.

We were watching a documentary on TV tonight about a controversial murder case in England. I felt that I was not being listened to, nor am I ever, really. I don't like admitting this but I threw a pint glass over the breadth of the living room. No-one was harmed or injured and I hoped that I made sure that it remained that way. My temper boiled over. I had asked my mum to stop-start the programme so that I could inform her about bits of the case that I felt the BBC were not covering, or were distorting for their own reasons.

I'm sorry; my temper boiled over and I was wrong. The problem is that I don't feel particularly sorry for this. I still feel angry that I wasn't entitled to express an opinion - as with the case a lot of the time. It's not even as if we're encouraged to bring up points after the programme has ended - the Bee Bee Cee is god, and that is it.

Sorry, I'm ranting here.



MXH
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30 Jun 2011, 4:48 pm

I think we have all been there. Being sorry that you had to do that to voice yourself.



nostromo
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30 Jun 2011, 6:15 pm

Did it have anything in it? You and I know its a waste to spill a good drop.



psych
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30 Jun 2011, 9:29 pm

perhaps your family were watching the programme for entertainment value? Many people are like that, they might put on a show of taking something seriously but its quite superficial, they dont really care about accuracy or journalistic integrity, its just something to watch.

I would feel very frustrated living in a household where the telly was always on, it can kill conversation. the 'aspie' conversational probelms like knowing when its OK to interrupt and join in get worse - the TV never shuts up and gives you an opening - especially when its BBC with its hour long stretches (of insidious propaganda that most people dont catch)

ive had a similar experience when my mothers been watching the BBC, luckily i have the option of leaving the house and going home. A good way to challenge peoples 'programming' is to choose the right moment then, instead of stating your own observations ask them questions that may prompt them to reach those observations themselves.



Graelwyn
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30 Jun 2011, 10:32 pm

If am watching a documentary style programme, I like to discuss it and think about it. If it is a film. I tend to want to just sit back and enjoy.
I can understand the frustration of not feeling able to discuss... I had this issue with my own mother and would get irritated looks if I tried to talk about things and analyse them etc.
It is true, throwing something probably didn't achieve much, but then, you were angry and felt gagged and unheard, which can really cause a lot of annoyance.
I wouldn't feel too bad about it, most people seem to just want to watch documentaries like that for the drama factor, rather than to actually learn something about the way things really work.


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draelynn
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01 Jul 2011, 2:03 am

Once you cool down, it would be a good thing to apologize for the outburst. Being mad and boiling over is one thing - acting out in a potentially violent manner scares people. It's easy to imagine that next time, the glass will be aimed at their head...

Whatever the reason, you can discuss it in a calmer moment. Nothing is so important as to damage the trust of your family, especially not a tv program or the implications of goings on in other peoples lives.



dunbots
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01 Jul 2011, 2:09 am

draelynn wrote:
Being mad and boiling over is one thing - acting out in a potentially violent manner scares people. .

And people are more likely to obey you when they fear you, so in the end it's for the greater good.



Tequila
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01 Jul 2011, 4:16 am

Sorry, I feel wrong for doing this but I still feel a bit angry. I know that this is never a good way to react. I lost my temper and this shows me to be a weak individual who lost his ability to remain civil. I could have seriously hurt someone with those shards of glass. Please don't make excuses for me.

It's that, when I asked afterwards, the response was never to ask to talk about the programme or the case - not after the show, not the day after, never. Conversation is killed; the BBC is God - other avenues cannot be brought up and discussed.

I find this a lot - when the BBC gives out advice that is stupid, obvious or dangerous, no-one thinks to question it. I haven't watched mainstream TV for years now.

It doesn't make what I did right though.

psych wrote:
perhaps your family were watching the programme for entertainment value? Many people are like that, they might put on a show of taking something seriously but its quite superficial, they dont really care about accuracy or journalistic integrity, its just something to watch.


I was trying to point out how Surrey police were utterly, utterly incompetent in this case - there were many, many times Bellfield could have been brought to justice but wasn't. The fact that he'd tried (I think) to abduct another little girl just across the road a few days earlier and that a lot of the cases had taken place around his house. That the parents from across the road were hammering on the phone to Surrey police, desperately trying to get themselves heard, whilst they ignored them.

Really, the case was more to do with police incompetence than anything else. But no, CCTV is seen as a God. Fact is, that even at the best of times it can only provide clues and very often, the quality on it is atrocious anyway. More often than not it does more harm than good and has not been proven to cut crime. It hasn't worked in my home town, nor across the country. The problem these days is that there is so much CCTV that in many cases it goes unmonitored.

It's like people lose the power of critical thought.

Quote:
I would feel very frustrated living in a household where the telly was always on,


It's on from 6pm-sleep time. No-one can talk about anything, really. So I just go in my room, usually, and use my Mac in there. I don't go out in the evenings to drink - the local pubs are depressing places. I was only watching this because my Mac was in for repair.

Quote:
it can kill conversation. the 'aspie' conversational probelms like knowing when its OK to interrupt and join in get worse - the TV never shuts up and gives you an opening - especially when its BBC with its hour long stretches (of insidious propaganda that most people dont catch)


And, of course, right after that, it's the News. And we must watch the News when similarly nasty propaganda gets spilled on there, too.

draelynn: I agree. Which is why I usually just hive myself off.



Tequila
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01 Jul 2011, 5:19 am

dunbots wrote:
draelynn wrote:
Being mad and boiling over is one thing - acting out in a potentially violent manner scares people. .

And people are more likely to obey you when they fear you, so in the end it's for the greater good.


Like Basque separatists?



psych
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01 Jul 2011, 8:29 am

Tequila wrote:
It's like people lose the power of critical thought.


they definately do, watching telly is completely passive activity, people get used to shutting down part of their brains for long periods.

I havent verified this, but ive also heard that devices like CRTs (maybe the other types of tv) emit alpha waves which have amild hypnotic effect on people in the vicinity.



draelynn
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01 Jul 2011, 11:15 am

dunbots wrote:
draelynn wrote:
Being mad and boiling over is one thing - acting out in a potentially violent manner scares people. .

And people are more likely to obey you when they fear you, so in the end it's for the greater good.


Or just call the police and have you either arrested or committed...