What's Your Secret Wound?

I have been reminded over the past several days that people really like to be miserable. One incident sticks in my mind, because I was personally involved. It was Thursday afternoon, as I was getting off the crowded 4 train. As I walked off someone was shoving me from behind. After the third shove I turned around and saw this little woman, Crackberry in hand, and when I made eye contact she yelled (I say yelled as I had my headphones on loud and heard her clearly) "What the f**k are you looking at? Walk!" Wow. All I could do was laugh and think immediately that this is an angry person. And yes, I wanted to go right back at her, but I just didn't. I like to think it was foresight-likely it was the fact that as I turned forward directly in front of me was a man with his two small children and I was reminded of my own son. And how if he witnessed this woman's behavior he'd likely be scared. So I let it go. She clearly wanted a confrontation, and I didn't give in.
Something else happened this weekend and like so many incidents, it was dust in 15 minutes. But again I was reminded that misery loves company, and that the spaghetti Western maestro Sergio Leone title says it best when describing human nature: there's good, bad, and ugly. And all of us have the capacity to be all three. I certainly have. I write this because this morning on the way to work I was reading Italo Calvino and he said "We all have a secret wound which we are fighting to avenge." So true brother.