A Field Guide to Feelings
Disgust Management
I have an idea for a new business opportunity for us shrinks. You know how they have anger management classes that judges, employers, and spouses send people to when they keep losing their cool? The kind like in the movie with Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson? Yeah, that. Well, anger’s not the only emotion that needs to go to class. There ought to be disgust management classes, too.
Disgust is that feeling of revulsion you get when you comes across anything gross, grody, ghastly, gruesome, creepy, hateful, horrible, nasty, nauseating, stinking, loathsome, objectionable, obnoxious, odious, hideous, beastly, detestable, distasteful, repugnant, repellent, rotten, vile, vulgar, cloying, foul, horrid, scuzzy, icky, lousy, sleazy, noisome, offensive, or yucky. It’s often accompanied by a narrowed brow, a curled lip, a wrinkled nose, and a tongue sticking out for all the world to see. You feel it in your stomach. It makes you want to hurl. It’s closely related to hate, contempt, condescension, snootiness, and the reason bands of villagers go marching with torches and pitchforks.
Who would go to these classes? You’ve got people who’ve got to keep their peas and mashed potatoes separated and the kind who lays toilet paper on the seat. There are those who can’t bear the sight of blood, won’t do CPR, and are useless at an…
