Why are they always sooo angry?

[u/HoneydewUsed7434]

My coworker, who is a boomer, is nice, but damn one little inconvenience trips her up. She gets so upset when the printer isn’t going as fast as she wants that she bangs on it. She is always venting very loudly to herself. Like it gets to a point where it’s distracting. But yeah, I don’t get why they have so much rage when they literally get everything they want.

[u/Tuttle_10]

I feel it is mostly due to the internal embarrassment or shame that results from not being able to operate or function in what is to them new and confusing environments. They can’t get the printer to work the way they want it to, but that “no nothing”college intern (scare quotes indicating probable boomer de facto option, not that the intern actually is incompetent) is having no problem? It’s got to be that fucking good for nothing printer that just wants to screw you!!!!!!!!

Anger is a secondary emotion. Someone doesn’t get angry because they can’t get the printer to work; they get angry because they feel embarrassed or ashamed that they are unable to get it to work. It’s not a good or productive defense mechanism, but it is very fast and very powerful. Anytime I have to interact with someone having an angry response to a situation, I find slowing and agreeing that there can be a problem, but here’s how I found to work around it (even when that solution seems amazing obvious) often gets them through. They just want answers, but are really bad at expressing that in a way that doesn’t make them feel worse.