Lethal Karaoke

CBN.com - An even spirit is vital to your well-being. Do you easily fly off the handle? Do you get angry easily, so angry that you are liable to do something stupid?

So, what upsets you? What can get your goat quicker than anything else? A neighbor's dog? (I will vote for that one.) A rude and dangerous driver? An obnoxious boss?

Well, try this true story on for size. In Manila, Philippines, a man was killed and another wounded when a brawl broke out in a karaoke bar. The issue was the quality of singing.

A 54-year-old laborer died of a stab wound after a fight when a group of drinkers said that the man with the microphone was singing out of tune. The singer did not have enough sense to silently walk away, but instead, confronted his critics and a fight broke out. The poor guy who was killed was only trying to stop the fight.

Now here is an interesting sidebar: Newspaper reports in the Philippines say that karaoke bars have now removed the Frank Sinatra classic, "My Way," from play lists because fights frequently broke out when amateurs were singing the song.

Sounds pretty silly that people get so worked up over so little. Do you erupt at the least little thing, like getting cut off in traffic? Seethe at a rude remark from a total stranger? Dislike when some stranger sits in your pew at church?

Do you get annoyed at poor service in a restaurant, or a computer that keeps flashing that you have just done something illegal?

Little foxes spoil the vines of life! Rudyard Kipling wrote that, "If you can keep your head, when all about you are losing theirs, and blaming it on you ... yours is the World, and everything that's in it! And -- which is more -- you'll be a MAN, my son!"

Used with permission by author, Dan Betzer. Previously published on ByLine OnLine, copyright © 2005 Media Ministries of the Assemblies of God.