Lessons re-learned after a few days of contentious and unpleasant topics on my LJ

[substitute]

1. People argue about what they came to argue about, not the topic you raised.
   
   
2. Everything is personal.
   
   
3. If you ask someone a question and they answer a different one, you have your answer all right.
   
   
4. Don't mention Canada. In any context, really.
   
   
5. Open communication is greatly overrated.
   
   
6. If you have something incredibly important to say, for Chrissakes don't. And if you must, don't do it on the Internet.

Comments

It ain't quite as bad as it looks

[gcrumb.livejournal.com]

Just remember that the ones who really *get* what you're saying get it the first time, are glad you said it, and hence have no need to hash it out further.

So: Open communication is not really over-rated. Filtering responses to said communication is often under-rated.

And no, don't mention Canada. Unless you've got a case of unwanted (un-American) beer in your fridge.