The Old Man watched the people arguing with an expression that was half bemusement, half disgust.

A disagreement between two guys ahead of us at our favorite boat ramp had become a shouting match.

“They’re both missing the big picture,” he said.

“Well, the second one has a point,” I said. “The other one was taking too long. No wonder his patience was worn out.”

“Dumb guys let their patience wear out,” the Old Man said. “Smart guys teach their patience to expand. Besides, yelling about it never solved anything anyway.”

I knew I had tried his patience myself on occasion and had been corrected often, sometimes sharply, but never loudly.

“Generally, grown men who scream at people to make their point lack emotional discipline,” he said. “Never put up with guys who say they can’t help yelling and hollering because they’re so passionate about whatever the topic may be. They yell and holler because it makes them feel powerful, and because it intimidates the people they’re hollering at. In reality, they’re just cowards who’ve figured out how to get by. Ignore this behavior as much as you can, and never emulate it.”

“What if it’s really loud where we’re talking and I have to shout?” I asked.

“That’s not what I mean at all,” he said. “You’ll know what I’m talking about when it happens. Like a simple instinct, you’ll know it when you see it. It’s an important small part of the big picture.”

Kevin Tate is the outdoors writer for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.