My mother is a flighty, sometimes shrewish woman who has a good heart and means well - she just doesn't always get it across in the right way. My father didn't take any crap from anyone - he didn't raise his voice when he got angry, but he was a master at the Evil Eye. Mister says I'm pretty good at it too. Except, I tend to do like Mom and get mad first, ask questions later; but I'm working on that. If I get riled, I try to think what my dad would do. That usually helps.