It seems to me that everything has been way to intense lately. I’m growing tired of seeing well… everything escalate. I feel like people can’t differ in anything without things devolving into a screaming match. I’m fatigued from one-sided ignorant rants and I think everybody could benefit from a quick hiatus from their own opinions.

Around Halloween I seriously heard two guys outside of a party arguing over which beer was better (both were equally horrible). While that may sound like your run of the mill bar argument, the argument slowly transformed into a shouting a shoving match… over beer. While that didn’t bother me at first, (fight all you want, just keep it away from me) I noticed that things were beginning to get out of control. The drunken argument’s topic went from beer to how much one of their girlfriends gets around. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?! About ten minutes later I’m helping one of the guys call a cab after he was assaulted by the other. I began asking myself how things escalated so quickly to no avail.

About a week after that, I found myself in a similar situation. Whilst waiting in line at Taco Bell (sweet sweet processed gold) I overheard two guys arguing about a topic involving the imminent presidential election. Half way through their argument one of them turned around and asked my opinion on the topic to which I declined to answer. The two fellows went on arguing, increasing in volume as the discussion became more and more heated. Their volume became so high people standing behind them began to stare at the spectacle. They eventually stopped once they began inserting their Chalupas in their faces, but not a moment sooner. Did they ever reach a compromise? No. They only talked over each other until the additives in their fast food cuisine subdued them.

It was at this point that I realized how I so easily avoid these situations. I make it a rule to never talk about certain things with people that don’t know me well. Politics, religion and how I feel about most people are opinions that I keep close to my chest, and I’ve noticed that without me expressing these things my life goes so much smoother. The fact of the matter is, I don’t care how people feel about my personal beliefs to the point where I usually don’t share them to people that don’t know me well. Furthermore my crippling sense of indifference towards almost everything helps me keep an open mind.

People aren’t confident enough with their own opinions it would seem. It’s too easy to just scream at the other party until a stalemate occurs. If your stance on an issue is so strong, somebody giving a dissenting opinion shouldn’t stir you into a frenzy. Keep an open mind. And most importantly CALM DOWN! I promise everything will be okay.
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