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Yeah, that IS, in fact, what it means to be civilized. April should spend some time in the UK. See how her friends & partner there would react when she throws a tantrum in public. Sorry, Hugo, from where I'm sitting she's 100% wrong and you were being a supportive, dignified parter. She should've considered herself lucky to have a mate who so kindly and gently tried to encourage her to learn some basic coping skills.

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"When April came to visit my family ranch, however, she and I were put in separate rooms. My grandmother’s edict was clear: “Suitcases need to sleep separately. Discreet nocturnal traffic will be ignored.” As I’ve explained to April many times, Our Kind of People care about how things look on the outside. I declare that’s a way of making everyone comfortable. April thinks it’s rank hypocrisy."

I understand why some people might consider that hypocritical in some way or another, but I don't see it that way. While I don't share your extreme aversion to anger, I do actually think that such public outbursts by people who should "know better" (that is to say, I understand toddlers and people with various disabilities cannot always control these things and I am not judging these people for their behavior) are, in fact, pretty "uncivilized." I just find it so rude to disrupt the collective peace like that. It feels very selfish. The way things look on the outside is how we maintain social order in many ways. Challenging it sometimes is necessary, I think, but overall I think it's an important part of keeping us tied together and I see the decline of that as a bad omen in a way.

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