Hi all. The other day, I was coming back home from somewhere and I was stuck behind someone who was slow. There was only a single lane going each way and no passing was allowed. But then we came to a stretch of road where there were 2 lanes for a short distance. So I pulled into the second lane hoping to pass the slow person in front. But the person actually changed lanes just to block me, so I came back into my previous lane and so did he. He made sure that I could not pass. I honked, but he paid no attention. Again we were back to single lane and I was seething. I was with my family and my wife kept telling me to calm down. But nothing she said worked. So finally we came to a long stretch of road where there were two lanes. This time I was determined not to get blocked. But the person let me pass and I was doing so he had the audacity, the gall to show me his middle finger. I lost it. I opened the passenger window and I started yelling profanities. I temporarily forgot that our kids were in the back seat. My wife was trying to calm me down. I also noticed that his wife was doing the same thing. I swear, I felt like ramming into the guy. Obviously I did not. But the rest of the ride back home, my wife and I were arguing about who was right and who was wrong. My wife told me that I shouldn’t stoop to his level. When we came home, we were in our bedroom and my wife told me that I have to get a hold of my senses. I agreed. But I was trying to think why people react the way I did. In the newspaper today, I read an article about it. The article talks about a book written by neurobiologist Doug Fields. He has written a book “Why We Snap”. It is available at Why We Snap: Understanding the Rage Circuit in Your Brain  on Amazon. He says that our reaction stems from our instincts. We have a threat detection center and it makes us react without thinking of the consequences. It can mean the difference between life and death. Different people use this instinct and in some cases, because of this instinct people commit heroic acts of saving someone or athletes give their best performances in tough situations. But we have to learn how to recognize whether the impulse is life threatening or something that is not worth getting upset about.