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What's your temper tactic?

By Tonya Leslie, staff writer

We all get mad. But how do you handle your anger? Do you cross your arms over your chest? Stamp your feet? Put your fingers in your ears and refuse to listen? Or do you sit in a corner and pout?

Anger makes the best of us revert to our babyish selves. Take this quiz to find out if you are a pouter, shouter, foot stamper, or whiner. Then find out what you can do to change.

1.	You get a poor grade you think is unfair in English class. You:
		a.	Stomp up to the teacher and begin to shout that she's not fair.
		b.	Burst into tears.
		c.	Tell your teacher it's not your fault. With school, your job, and all your other activities, who has time to study?
		d.	Meet with the teacher and talk about it calmly. Maybe if she heard your side of the story, she'd allow you some leeway.

2.	Your parents ground you because of your poor grade in French class. You:
		a.	Call them crazy, say it's not your fault, run to your room, and slam the door.
		b.	Put your head down on the table and really start crying. No one ever listens!
		c.	Tell them it's all your teacher's fault. She wouldn't listen when you tried to explain why your work was late.
		d.	Ask your parents to meet with you and your teacher. Maybe you can clear up the problem together.

3.	Someone accidentally bumps into you in the hallway and spills coffee all over you—ruining the T-shirt you borrowed from your best friend. You:
		a.	Follow the person down the hall and demand that she pay for the shirt.
		b.	Try to tell your friend about it but get nervous and begin to cry. Maybe your tears will get you off the hook.
		c.	Give your friend back the shirt with the stain still there. It wasn't your fault.
		d.	Tell her what happened and offer to pay for dry cleaning or another shirt.

4.	It's a bad hair day! You just can't get your hair right, and you're already late. You:
		a.	Go to school with your hair pointing this way and that, and growl at anyone who even looks at you.
		b.	Burst into tears and tell your mother you can't go to school today.
		c.	Tell people at school that you can't help the way your hair looks because you have bad hair genes.
		d.	Get a piece of cloth and make an Erykah Badu-like wrap for the day.

5.	You have to tutor after school, but your best friend just reminded you that you had promised to help her out with her fund-raising event at the same time. You:
		a.	Yell at your friend. She always does this kind of thing at the last minute.
		b.	Whine. Your friend knows how busy you are. Why did she even ask you?
		c.	Tell your friend, "Tough luck!" She should have reminded you.
		d.	Apologize to your friend, and see if you can help her out after you finish tutoring.

6.	You planned to hold an outdoor crafts fair on Saturday, but it's raining cats and dogs. You:
		a.	Complain and then sulk in your room for the rest of the day.
		b.	Begin to cry. Why does everything always happen to you?
		c.	Blame your mother. You wanted to do it yesterday, but she made you wait. It's all her fault.
		d.	Hold the sale in your garage instead.

7.	You walk out of the nail salon and immediately smudge your polish while trying to find your house keys. You:
		a.	Walk back in and tell the owner to fix your nails right away!
		b.	Go home and take all the polish off. What a waste of money! Now you can't go to the dance.
		c.	Go back to the salon and ask the manicurist to fix your nails. Why didn't she tell you they were still wet?
		d.	Fix it at home. You should have been more careful.

8.	Your little brother scratches your new Beyonce CD. To retaliate, you:
		a.	Yell and break his favorite video game.
		b.	Cry to your parents and tell them to punish him. He's always doing something wrong.
		c.	Blame your parents. You keep telling them you need a lock on your door.
		d.	Get another CD. It's no big deal.

9.	Your sister keeps tying up the phone line, and you're waiting for a call from a cute guy. You:
		a.	Yell at your sister so loud she can't continue her conversation and has to hang up.
		b.	Whine until your sister gets fed up and hangs up.
		c.	Tell your parents that it's time to get another phone line.
		d.	Wait until she's done. If he likes you enough, he'll call back.

10.	It's that time of the month and your favorite jeans are a little tighter than usual. You:
		a.	Yell and carry on. Why be angry alone?
		b.	Cry and eat a box of chocolate. If you're going to be bloated, you might as well go all the way.
		c.	Ask your mother why she didn't insist on your buying a bigger size.
		d.	Find another pair of jeans to wear.