yikes

[affablestranger]

I have a few rules about conversations, and those rules cause more than a few people problems. Almost exclusively those people are attempting to discuss politics. Otherwise, it's religion. It's invariably something social

Comments

[dadadadio]

It's the generalizations that get under my skin. Lumping all people from an ethnic group into a negative stereotype, or using a derogotory label for a class of people they don't like are the kinds of behavior that will turn me away from someone. I no longer speak to a coworker who rambles on about Obama, using the N-word and the most hateful rhetoric I've ever hear in the workplace. He's a racist pig with Limbaugh disease. I can't deal with him.

I'm guilty of using a label or two but they're usually based on the attitudes, prejudices and ideology of people in that group. Teabaggers would be a good example, or gun huggers. You can't be one of them unless you hold the general beliefs of that crowd, so I don't find the label unfair.

I love talking politics, religion and social issues, even with those I disagree with. The anger level of the person I'm speaking to will determine my ability to carry on. I can't converse with irrational zealots.