Sweet Revenge

When someone pesters you beyond tolerance or keeps on treading on your nerves, don’t you get this feeling to give it straight back to him in the quickest way possible.
But civilized social beings that we are we have to bridle that impulse and let it go back to slumber. And that refraining to do that something, results in a mental pother and an itching,unquenched urge.How I wish we could vent it out right then, right there and I don’t mean going on a killing spree but any innocuous, silly little thing which just lets it flow out.
Thats what my son does, he has found out something that irks his dad but I think that gives him immense peace-thank God he has never directed towards me.The first time he did that was when he was four –enroute to India,aboard the neverending flight-he was thoroughly fed up of his dad’ s continuously flowing instructions-don’t fiddle with the TV screen, don’t unbuckle the seatbelt,don’t kick the chair of the person in front, don’t lean over to watch the ones sitting behind, et al.He was simmering with all this I’m sure, so as soon as the attendant poured coffee for dad,the kiddo overturned the food tray-resulting in spilling coffee all over dad’s jeans.He was not burnt but had to rush to change them-thankfully he was carrying one extra pair!!As a repercussion, my son got a fine imprint of hubby’s palm on his cheek , he cried over it but I am sure he was satisfied at having done his bit.Again in a marriage party, when we were in our best attire and best possible behaviour and best possible plastic smiles-kiddo was not allowed to run around too much and stick around us, which he hated and he was just about to kick hubby’s overfilled plate when his reflexes just worked and he managed to save it from toppling over his clothes.
And sometimes when we are getting over his nerves with our don’t-dos, he harmlessly, very subtly, just ever so gently that it seems like an accident,shakes the hand that holds the glass of water that it spills a little. Whatever reprimand he gets after this, I think he doesn’t mind as he is free from that burden of not doing it, he has vented it out.Though I don’t encourage this behaviour a wee bit and get mad at him but if I think about it, how delightful that moment it would be for him. And I wish I could do that freely whenever I wanted –that moment of happiness- how it would feel to assault the offender right away, to pay off the debt instantly.That would require gumption which I have yet to discover, if I have that much.