A raging meditation

Mike Mennonno gets to thinking about rage after a lunchtime encounter yesterday with a man who erupted into one on the Common:

... When he went rabid, everyone sort of skittered away from him instinctively, careful to avert their eyes and avoid any jerky motions that might cause him to lunge at them, too. No one was harmed. The rage zombie -- he was just like one of the infected in 28 Days Later -- raged on some more but kept moving down the path.

There was a collective nervous chuckle when we'd reached a safe distance, like, WTF? Like when you pass someone walking a big dog on a leash, and the dog looks perfectly under control, but lunges at you suddenly as you pass close by, barking and snarling and going crazy for no apparent reason. Only better: this guy wasn't on a leash. That adrenaline rush puts some pep in your step. Better than a Red Bull.

All the rest of the way to work, it played over and over in my head. That poor sod a few paces in front of me. What if the rageoid hadn't just barked at him? What if he'd taken a bite? ...