Discussing Under the Influence

I was just about to make my clinching argument to the blithering idiot in the chair across from me, who probably didn't have enough brains to understand me anyway, when a tall man in an officer's uniform came up to me.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I need to ask you to step out of your seat."

"What? Who are you?" I demanded angrily.

"I'm the conversation officer, ma'am, now please step out of your seat." Amazed, insulted, and a bit scared, I did as he said.

"Ma'am, I'm arresting you for D.U.I.E."

"What on earth is that?" I demanded.

"Discussing Under the Influence of Emotions", he answered back with a steely face.

"I wasn't influenced by emotion!" I shouted, "I KNOW PERFECTLY WELL WHAT I'M SAYING."

"Ma'am, please cooperate, and this will go much easier. Now I need to have you do a few tests. Would you please breathe into this analyzer?" Still annoyed, but getting more frightened, I did as he asked.

"What is that supposed to measure?" I asked.

"It tests to see if your breathing is deep, slow, relaxed, and completely fills your lungs", he said, writing on his pad. "I'm sorry to say that the results show you are breathing rapidly and shallowly - a sure sign of not being centered. Now I'd like you to walk forward slowly in a straight line, feeling your connection with the earth under each foot." I walked as slow as I could, but didn't feel much of anything, except anger and humiliation.

"Just as I thought, ma'am, you are not grounded at all - your first chakra is completely disconnected." He scribbled more notes on his pad. "For the last test, I'd like you to look deeply into the eyes of the person you were just arguing with, and tell them from your heart that you still love them." This I simply could not do, no matter what the consequences. I cast my eyes downwards.

"I see," he said, "you are coming from a place of fear instead of love."

Fear? I thought I was angry. Could I have been angry because I was afraid of something?

"Ma'am," the officer interrupted my thoughts, "you know that with a few more violations of this nature, you can lose your privilege of connecting deeply with others. Your driving influence in this community may be severely curtailed."

The emotions were starting to settle, and I began to realize how out of control I had been. I began to see how I was doing significant damage to this relationship.

"Fear and love do not mix, ma'am." he said with a kinder voice. "There's nothing wrong with having emotions - just be careful how you express them."

He continued, "Ma'am, I'm going to make this a warning, but with repeated violations, you could end up in isolation.  Please remember, relating to others is a privilege, not a right." And with that he walked out of the room.

I looked back to my opponent, who was still looking at me.  He didn't seem to have noticed the officer at all. Now underneath his glare, I noticed he too seemed to look scared, the way I had been. So I sat down again next to him, took a deep breath, and said,

"Okay, I'm ready to hear you now."