Row row row your boat...

My neighbours had a blazing row late last night.  It was about midnight, and I was languishing in bed, waiting for Mr Brain to finish the spin cycle so I might get some sleep.  I heard a woman shouting.  The street was very quiet and the voice was low and far off sounding, so I assumed it was someone down the road.  "It's a domestic, sarge."  I ignored it.

Moments later it started up again.  This time I was in no doubt that a woman was in real distress, so I got up to investigate.  I peered out of an upstairs window, but couldn't see anyone in the street.  I listened hard and was able to determine that the voices (a man had joined in the hue and cry by this point) were those of my near neighbours.  They're friends too, so it was doubly distressing.

The verbal altercation didn't last long.  The male half of the ensemble was hurled, with menaces, from the nuptial home into the street after about five minutes.  He has a motorcycle, my neighbour, which he eventually rode off on.  I can only hope against hope that he wasn't wearing his jim-jams at the time.

The events, which I suppose have a certain comic element once the dust has settled, upset me greatly.  I cannot abide domestic upheaval.  I developed a real phobia for it when I was a boy.  My parents didn't argue much, but when they did, it was horrifying to me.  I don't think I've ever got over it completely.  But what are parents supposed to do?  When passions run high, you can't hide it.  Children know this better than adults.  Their days are are crammed with tears, laughter, boredom, fatigue, every extreme emotion in the range - much more so than any adults.  When a child is upset, he or she leave the world in no doubt as to the matter.  Consequently, they can read moods better than we suppose.  It's no use hiding your anger then; the kids sense it anyway.

I hope things settle down.  I know some people swear by a good row, but I've only ever found fury to be a destructive emotion.  I realised when I was very young that I have a ferocious temper, and would do well to keep a lid on it.  I suppose suppressing one's emotions like this entails some cost, but it's better than the alternative, which is opprobrium and ASBOs.