Serbs Set Up "Rage Room" For Unleashing Anger

By JOVANA GEC

NOVI SAD, Serbia (AP) ⿿ Savo Duvnjak looks around the room, lifts a metal baseball bat and wrecks everything in sight ⿿ bed, table, shelves, chair ⿿ until there's nothing left to wreck.

This isn't a criminal onslaught. It's the Rage Room.

And it's smashing its way to success in Serbia one angry visitor at a time.

"This feels so good!" Duvnjak said sweating and panting, as he admired the mound of debris he created ⿿ for just a modest fee.

"I feel I let go of all my negative energy," the 18-year-old gushed. "This last year was a tough one and I wanted to end it with a bang!"

Since it opened in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad in October, the Rage Room has drawn a flurry of attention in the Balkan country where two decades of war, political crisis and economic hardship have driven many people over the edge. Inspired by a similar "Anger Room" in Dallas, Texas, Serbia's version was set up by two teens who saw the U.S. original online and figured it could be a way to earn pocket money.

"On average, we have one person a day, enough to keep us going," said Nikola Pausic, an 18-year-old who runs the room with a friend.

The Dallas version costs up to $75 per session and has an array of objects to destroy, including computers and office furniture. Serbia's Rage Room, organized in a refurbished garage, is much more basic ⿿ and cheaper.

Included in the roughly $6 fee is the right to smash a chair, a table, a bed, a coat-rack and a book-shelf, along with items such as framed photographs, empty cans and plastic containers. Clients must wear a helmet, protective glasses and gloves. Afterward they get to unwind to relaxing music, leaving the clean-up to staff.

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