My Opinion on Opinions

Opinions are fine to have.  There's a billion things to having an opinion on, from something as small as whether cats or dogs are better, to seemingly larger topics like politics and religion.  Having an opinion is fine under one condition: you don't shove your opinion down other people's throats.

It drives me insane when someone believes their opinion is obviously the correct way to think about something, and in result constantly tries to shove their ideas onto everyone else who thinks else wise.  Everyone has opinions, many are differing, and it makes a person well rounded when they can accept opinions that differ from their own for what they are and leave it at that.  Constantly trying to argue that the other person/groups opinion is incorrect and yours is correct just makes you seem self-important, stuck-up, and shallow minded.  There's really about a billion different adjectives I could to describe a person like that.

Another issue is, though, is that there are tons of different ways people can go about shoving their opinions around, both direct and indirect.  Here's two examples I know from my personal life experiences:

     Direct

About 5 or 6 years ago, my mother had been in the middle of dating someone who lived with us.  In result, more often than not, his mother came by for frequent visits.  One of these visits, as my mother, her, and I were sitting at the dining room table, she began to talk about religion, and I swear I've never had a red flag fly up in my mind more quickly.  Back then, my mother was not very religious, my biological father having thoroughly ruined the whole experience for her when they were divorcing by having their church tell her how horrible she was for leaving him.  I'd catch her praying here and there, and I knew she kept this really pretty bible in her night stand (I think it was a bible for women, it was pink and had beautiful ornate lettering on it), but that was the extent of her beliefs at the time.

So when her boyfriend's mother started to talk about religion, my mother immediately chimed in that she didn't care much for the topic, considering she wasn't very religious herself.  For all someone on the outside of the conversation, being unable to hear what was being said, would have known, my mother could have slapped the other woman with the look she adorned.  Almost immediately, the older woman tried to scold my mother for not being religious, not going to church, etc etc, and bless her heart, my mother kept her cool until the older woman shut her mouth.  When there was finally silence, my mother just put on her most calm grin and spoke soundly.

"That's your opinion, but I have my own, and if you're going to spend the time in my house trying to shove your ideals down my throat, you know where the front door is."

That's roughly what my mother said, the older woman quickly put a lid on her rampant belief speech, and it was never brought up again in my mother's house as far as I knew.

     Indirect

This method is more so just spamming about a certain topic in a place where one person will often see the spam, whether it's in a group of friends they are a part of with you, or on your facebook wall like this next example takes place.

My mother, I love her to death.  I would even go as far as to say I love her most recent boyfriend, who she's been with for a few years now and treats her very well, so much better than her last boyfriend that I mentioned above.  The only thing that really, truly, drives me bonkers is how insanely political he's made her, or awoken in her, or whatever.

Every single damn time I log into facebook, my mother has posted at least 5 links, images, stories, videos, etc. that relate to her views on something of a political nature.  She's more active on the site than my brother and I combined, and 10 times more annoying in result.  Constantly seeing this spam about her political views (which I've given up on deciphering, I'm not at all political myself and don't care to be) makes me wonder if she even realizes how much she spams these posts.  Mostly because a lot of the posts are complaining, bitching posts about the current government and its flaws, and good google, there's enough bitching and complaining on the internet to last an infinite number of lifetimes.  Having a constant, direct source from the woman that gave birth to me every time I visit my facebook feed makes me want to beat my head against the wall.

     Conclusion

Indirect or Direct, just try and keep a check on your opinions and how you share them with others.  Whether it's pointed directly at someone through conversation or indirectly through spamming posts about it anywhere online, you're likely going to piss someone off and lose respect easily.  Rarely, being overly opinionated will garner you respect, but in the average, every day society, no one really cares just how much you want them to change their opinion to match yours, or constantly be fed information on exactly what your opinion is.  You're just going to come off as unapproachable and irritating, so check yourself before you wreck yourself homeslice.