Anger is just not the way to go

To the editor:

(re: “Winning isn’t everything when talking impeachment,” Dec. 5)

Alvin Gordon’s most recent Point of View offended me. Most all his letters offend me.

Then the light bulb went off.

Alvin Gordon is nothing more than the community crank. Most every community has, in residence, someone at odds with many of the beliefs and values of their neighbors, who gets apoplectic over community norms. Then issues rants and raves on a regular basis. Even using his constitutionally protected speech — and the coverage it rightfully provides — to issue foul-mouthed, ad hominem assaults.

Well, Mr. Gordon, I congratulate you on your volunteering for this exalted position. Mazel tov! Please know this: You are indeed marked as our Riverdale crank. Evidence thereof is clear. Few if any letters of support for your rants appear published. And I imagine the circle of social contacts you engage in, if any, is highly circumscribed. Rightfully so.

Cranks thus mark themselves by their behavior, and are thus ostracized. Few are listening to you, and fewer still feel the need to respond to you. Most feel like I do, that ignoring you is the best available option.

So rant away, Mr. Gordon. And know this: We really do care about people like you in this community, the few that exist.

Being angry so long, so often, so deeply, must really hurt. Many of us feel sorry for you. There are even multiple mental health resources locally based that can provide a viable outlet for your anger.

As a recovering anger-holic myself, I have found therapy a wonderful release. Might I suggest considering it? I know from personal experience how it has improved the quality of my life.

In fact, I had an uncle you remind me of. The cemetery he was buried in refused his requested epitaph — it was unacceptably angry for their standards. His daughter — my cousin — is sadly, no different. How much they missed in life.

Anger such as yours is not healthy. Not for the angry person, nor the country. It serves little purpose other than venting. It solves few problems, though I strongly suspect problem solving is not at all intended.

In the end, isolation is the result. So rant away, offend away. Keep painting that corner paint.

Let me conclude by wishing you a true saying of the neighborhood I grew up in — Jamaica Estates, Queens — to “have a nice day.”

Adam Stoler

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