The Anger the Fear and the Ugly Neurotic
Two neurotics walk into a bar and wait. One grows anxious, convinced the waiter despises him. The other erupts, accusing the waiter of blatant discrimination. By the time the waiter arrives—five minutes later—both have fled. This is the fundamental comedy, and tragedy, of neurosis: one implodes with guilt, the other explodes with blame. Both are imprisoned by projection, the psychic defense that evicts internal turmoil and casts it onto the world. But it is the explosive type, the one who makes his anxiety everyone else’s problem, who we might call the Ugly Neurotic. Not long ago, I found myself in a real-life version of this scene at a rental car office. I approached the counter calmly to ask a benign question about another agency, but before I could finish, the man behind the desk erupted. His face flushed crimson, his voice cracked with fury, and his hand slammed the counter as if I had insulted his very existence. His eyes were tired and empty, his shoulders slumped under an invisi...