I’m not responsible for your emotions

I’m only responsible for my actions

Emotional Outburst by Shefali O’Hara

I lost my temper a couple of days ago. I used a bad word. I was vulgar. Maybe I was mean. I don’t feel bad though.

Here is what happened.

I have a friend, let’s call him Rob. He has a girlfriend, Amelia.

Rob sent a group message to me, Amelia and other friends at 8 in the morning. It said, “Amelia and I want to host a game night. We’re free from the 22nd through the 30th, except Christmas. When are you guys free?”

Amelia and other friends added comments. I didn’t see any of this until 10:30, when I opened Facebook. At that point, I checked my calendar and responded, “I’m not free until the 27th, but I can make it that evening, or the 28th, whichever works.”

I then went back to work.

20 minutes later, I received a private message from Rob, “Amelia is really upset.” He told me she was offended because it took me 2 1/2 hours to respond to their message, and I didn’t address her by name.

I admit, I think Amelia’s controlling. For example, one time when Rob was in the car and a friend called, he reached over to turn off his speaker so they could talk in private. Amelia grabbed his hand and stopped him. She wanted to listen to the conversation. She…