Is It Really About A Button?

Why do some people get so worked up and pissed off over the most trivial of things? Why waste the energy ranting and raving about something silly. If it doesn't effect your life in a major (or even a minor) way why bother giving it the kind of attention that only ends up making you look like a moron?

Yesterday X has a complete hissy fit over a missing button (which actually turned out to be a snap) on Little Bear's jeans that I packed for him for his overnight visit. A complete freak out where he attacked my character, my parenting skills and even my relationship (or lack of) with my family. I was glad to see that after almost 3 years of us being apart he hasn't lost any of his...."charm".

He was beyond pissed off over something so silly. Did I know that the pants were missing a snap? Yes, yes I did (I was a little behind in my laundry and I don't send school clothes to come back ripped or stained) and to make up for the missing snap I provided a belt and even looped it through the jeans to make sure it wasn't missed. Also, X has access to a washer and dryer and Little Bear went to his father's in a pair of pants with snap fully intact. There was absolutely no reason for the melt down.

So after a string of insults and name calling which I will admit to participating in (wrong? Sure but sometimes when someone is just being that ridiculous it is fun to play along.) I finally stopped answering back to his texts and Facebook messages and ultimately ending the game for both of us. In the end, Little Bear's jeans were still missing a snap and X had done a pretty good job of reminding me why I spent all that money on a divorce and made an ass of himself publicly on my Facebook profile.

When X came to drop the boys off later in the evening he was completely cool. As if the morning exchange hadn't happened. Like a 3 year old who had finished his temper tantrum and moved on.

This whole situation made me stop and think, is it really about a button or is there a bigger deep seeded issue there. Can someone really allow themselves to get that worked into a tither over a freaking button?