An alternative to sulking

I'm a sulker. I think I got it from my mom; she's a sulker, too, but fortunately, my dad knows how to deal with it. The thing about being a sulker is that it takes a certain amount of perverse self-centeredness. How else can you justify getting upset over even the smallest self-perceived infractions? The nutty thing is, I don't enjoy sulking - okay, wait, that's a bit of lie, I enjoy sulking, I just don't enjoy it as much as say, throwing things or screaming. The best thing about sulking is that it's not terribly dramatic, so you can do it and not cause much of a public fuss. I was never one of those kids you see sometimes, throwing tantrums in the cereal aisle, getting down on the floor and kicking and screaming themselves blue in the face because they didn't get the sugar-coated flakes of their choice. When I didn't get my way, I'd stick out my lower lip and pout. Sadly, it's a behavior that has followed me into adulthood. Sulking's risky, though. You're never quite sure what reaction you'll get. I'm lucky in that in my group of friends, sulking is dealt with in one of two ways  - a) it's ignored or b) it's faced head-on. But there are risks, nevertheless. For instance, I once sulked over some silly incident (the details of which are fuzzy to me) with Miko and June back at MUIC. I remember we were headed to our nutrition class, June was driving, and I was so upset, I got out of the car and stormed back into the university. I imagined that either one of two events would ensue, that a) one or both of them would come after me and ask me to get in the car or, b) possibly, if that didn't happen, I'd go back in a few minutes, cursory apologies would be offered up and we'd all head off to class. All right, so after about five minutes, I realized the former was not going to happen, so I traipsed back...and to my horror and disbelief, they'd left! I ended up having to hotfoot it over to class by my lonesome (which was like a few buildings away) and was about ten minutes late. Boy, was I upset. Another incident, much more recent and briefly discussed in another post, involved Goldfinger. He said something which upset me, I started walking away, pouting, and can you believe it, he ditched me in the middle of Siam Paragon (also known as Yuppie Hell). Left me all alone! I was so peeved, all I did was pout for another ten minutes. And don't imagine for one second that I'm ever going to forget it. That's the other crazy thing about sulkers - we can hold onto transgessions like nobody's business. It's nothing serious; just fodder for when I feel like some light ribbing. Now you may be wondering what all this sulking gets me? Well, nothing much, aside from diverting me from my more violent behaviors. If I didn't sulk, I would be the adult version of a temper tantrum throwing kid. Or worse. I'm also petulant by nature, and sulking is just a natural extension of that. Only a few people have seen the true extent of my full-blown anger, and I'd like to keep it that way. Those who have witnessed my rage - my pure rage, undiluted - are no longer people I count as my friends, and there's a reason for that. I may get annoyed with my friends, I might get peeved - but I never, ever get full-out, Hulk-style angry with them. That sort of anger I save for people I'm ready to cut out of my life. So, I may be unreasonable sometimes, sulking over small things, but everyone's got their little somethings, right? That sounds like a bit of an excuse, and I guess it is. I admit it's not a very great habit, and I'm trying to break it (though I do enjoy it a bit too much), so if anyone has an alternative to sulking, I'm all ears.

Final thought: You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.