"I'm mad and I'm not going to take it anymore." We've all heard it -- a lot of us have said it. I said it yesterday. I meant it.

Being an editor is a great job most of the time, and then there are those days . . .

I have a lot of patience. I'm a mother, it's a requirement. There are those times in life, however, when my patience quotient runs low. That would be this week. Part of my job as editor is to talk to people about their concerns and complaints. Most of the time, a little talk and explanation can sort out the situation. Sometimes, it doesn't. Yesterday I took a call from an individual who was upset because a lead provided in previous weeks had not panned out with the results expected. The individual was quite angry that I had not discovered the same "nefarious" situation as was suspected by the caller.

I explained I had gone to the area in question but found no ill-doing.

Obviously, this was not quite what the caller wanted to hear. This is where the wearing of my patience entered the picture.

Unhappiness and frustration can cause people to do things and act in ways that are not the norm. Raising of the voice, insulting names, and ugly curses can easily spew forth. And when they do, even the mildest of editors can get a bit testy.

Rarely do I feel the need to hang up on people, but this time I did. My mother had a favorite saying that began, "God did not put me on this earth to endure . . ." Fill in the ellipses with whatever terror we had beset our mother with at the time.

After I had firmly informed this individual that I would not speak with someone in an over-emotional state and that when calmness and peace prevailed, another call would be welcome, I had to hang up because the tirade only escalated.

I turned to the waiting faces watching me handle the situation. I had nothing more to say than, "God did not put me on this earth to endure such talk. I'm mad and I'm not going to take it anymore."

So, there it was. Obviously, the fates took this as a challenge and the rest of the day was infused with situations that would not be handled in a passive manner.

Ah, Mom. You were so wise.