How to recover from shopping frustration and road-rage?

OK….the worst part is over. Turns out trimming hedges in your garden can be very therapeutic.
I’d still love to hear how others cope with the stress of shopping and traffic.

I live in central London so I don’t have to drive to the shops (which is nice). The down side is tourists walking down Oxford street really really slowly and stopping every 10 seconds to look in awe at something. Now don’t get me wrong London is a great city with lots of cool stuff to look at, amazing architecture etc. but none of it is on Oxford street.

Anyhooo…. to calm down wine and lots of it.

Trimming hedges sound great. I pull weeds imaging I am “snatching bakd-headed) as my Southern grandmother would say the idiots.

Correction The colloquialism was supposed to be snatch bald-headed.

I keep a mental file called “First World Problems”. When I get angry/frustrated/annoyed at things like my roommate losing the laundry room key, or traffic, or running out of ice cubes, I put it in that file.

To recover, give up smoking – you’ll be less irritable ; )

Kidding. Shopping is always going to be frustrating because when people get inside the supermarket, their brain goes into overdrive about what they need to buy and they seem to become inherently less aware of their surroundings – and more prone to doing stupid stuff like knocking into you.

You could always get some of these stickers to relieve the initial stress of parking space snatching…

hahaha benseven, trust me, quitting would not make me less of a troll in the short term (been there)

But thanks for the link! That site rocks and I so need to get some of those stickers!!

Or, you could do what I did (since I was retired) and move to a small town in the country, shop on the tiny Main Street, swap clothes w. my sister, and keep clicking that mouse.

No lines, always a place to park, and everyone knows your name.

@Benseven, I LOVE that site! Had me laughing my ass off. I hope to submit a photo to them – I’ll keep my eyes peeled for ridiculous parking from now on.

@Nikipedia – I LOVE what you wrote too – 1st world problems!!! Brilliant! Seeing things from a larger perspective is always amazing amazing amazing, and you have just given me an incredible tool for doing that.

I was frustrated and filled with anxiety in traffic today… but when I think of it as a 1st World Problem: What a miracle it is to have my own car! To have incredible opportunities to attend that are miles away from my home! To be able to sit down while I travel! To be able to travel at will!

How priviliged I am, we are.

Great question Wildflower, great answers everyone.