I Opine

Opinions. Everyone has them. Lots of them. We seem to think ours are superior to other people’s. Certainly, they are more thought out and sensible.  As a co-dependent opinions are the very air we breathe.

We live in a world of opinions. There is no news reporting without opinion these days.  What happened to the idea of “facts, just the facts”? Even facts are suspect as they are open to interpretation as well.

People will ask your opinion. Do you give an honest opinion or one couched in terms that you believe will not be unkind or hurtful to the person asking? I do both. Often, I am a blurter. This usually occurs when I am taken by surprise, cannot believe that the person was stupid enough to ask or believe that there can be ONLY one answer. The results are often not the best.

When I couch my answer, I am often in a conundrum. How close to the truth should I stay? If someone looks horrible in an outfit, but they have already spent the money and time has run out to shop, do you tell them what you are seeing? Afterall, it is only your opinion and I have watched enough television shows to know that what some people find attractive, I do not.  Often I will offer suggestions or ask to see other choices. If those are not available, I make the best of it and find the positive. But sometimes I just can’t and have to tell them to wear something else from their closet.

Then there are political opinions. They vary widely and are highly charged.  Mostly I steer clear but find it fascinating when other folks want to fling their opinions on me. How do you extricate yourself then? I usually attempt to deflect or change the topic rapidly. Few people want to have a discussion on these topics, they want a debate and they want to be right and they want you to agree. We as humans are not big agree-ers.

Then there is religion, housekeeping, childrearing, education, diet, health, exercise, weather and most importantly how to load a dishwasher. I believe that if we could answer the dishwasher loading issue, the world might be a happier place. As I say to my guests, there is no “right” way to load a dishwasher, only your way – which is right for you.

Oh right, and which way the toilet paper goes on the spindle.  I have an opinion about that!!