In My Opinion

While on a ride with a new(ish) friend recently (maybe it was a couple of months ago), he asked my opinion on some "big" things (eg. religion, the environment, human rights), and I gave vague or jokey answers, avoiding giving my true opinion. The friend very quickly got the impression that I was a shallow person, someone that thinks only about things that affect her directly, doesn't spend the time to develop opinions on the "big things". I'm definitely NOT saying being like that is a bad thing (note to self: write posts about Forrest Gump and present vs. past vs. future), but I'm not like that.
I have opinions, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) they oppose everyone else's. So what do you do when your opinions on the "big stuff" are wrong. Or they're right, but for all the wrong reasons?
You keep your mouth shut, shrug your shoulders, make a joke, letting the asker think you're one of those people, or you state your opinion (and back it up) and have him/her think you're one of them Satan-worshipers/human-haters/planet-haters/everythingelse-haters or just plain wierd and cruel (note to self: write post about Marilyn Manson (I actually really like him)), or end up offending someone, or get carried away in debate/argument, or get squelched.
I usually shrug/joke/mumble/change the subject, or I decide to go ahead and say it. I don't just say it though, I pause, then start sentances that I don't finish, choose different words and end up stammering, and then I say it.
Sometimes I don't even finish before I'm told I'm wrong. The other day (again, this was probably months ago), Ed gave his opinion on something (as he so often does), and when he'd finished I went ahead with mine (in a very neutral fashion), and before I'd finished my first sentance he started shaking his head (as if to say "you're wrong"), turned around and started walking away. I carried on talking, and he turned back and said, "Yes, you're 23 and you know how it all works. I'm 63 and I don't". That pissed me off. I didn't say it as if I knew it all, it was just my opinion. And just because he's older doesn't necasserily make him right and me wrong.
Sometimes I just get squelched. The other person comes back with his/her argument in a louder, more confident voice, and I back off, deciding the conflict isn't worth it. I don't mind debate, but how often is it just fair debate. Someone always ends up getting offended or something, and I don't get offended easily, so it's usually me upsetting someone else, especially as a lot of people take things personally. When I say "take things personally", I mean that some (many?) people can't differentiate between an argument against their argument/opinion and an argument against themselves, and take it as a personal attack or something.

At another point during this ride, I refered to someone else as being "very opinionated" as a flaw. He said that he considered himself to also be very opinionated, and saw it as a good thing. It has just occured to me that maybe there are different uses of the word.
The way I meant it:
obstinate or conceited with regard to the merit of one's own opinions; conceitedly dogmatic (Miriam-Webster)
Holding stubbornly and often unreasonably to one's own opinions (thefreedictionary.com)
Maybe he meant it to mean simply "forming or holding opinions strongly" or something, as that would make more sense with regards to the word itself.

Afterthought:
I stumbled across the website Opinionated.net while googling (note to self: write about googling as a verb) for definitions (It was fifth. Opinionatedlesbian.com was third). Their "slogan" on their banner says, "Opinions are like ass holes, everyone's got one." But I don't think everyone does (have an opinion, not ass hole). It takes time, effort and thought to develop an opinion. Not everyone bothers to. As I said above, I don't think there is anything wrong with this. After everything considered, does any of this stuff matter. It's not like having an opinion changes anything. Who does (or can do) anything about "big" stuff? Why should we care about stuff we can't change (and I honestly don't think we can change it. Don't say "we live in a democracy". My vote won't make the slightest bit of difference (especially since I don't vote), nor will recycling my pop bottles (especially since I don't drink pop). (Note to self - write about recycling and politics.) Do things like this matter anyway? Someone else wins an election, taxes go down one percent, no smoking within six feet of doorways - big whoop. Do other things matter more? Thing we can do something about? I'm starting to sound like the "motivational speakers" that made me want to kill myself in highschool. I'm also starting to wander again. This wasn't where I intended on going.
When someone describes someone else as having "not a care in the world", it's usually considered a compliment. It's also usually used to describe (happy) children. Forrest Gump only cared about the things that mattered. Wouldn't it be nice to live like Forrest? Forrest lived in the present. He didn't live in the past, or worry about the future.
I just got off the phone with Amy. She's been feeling horrible all day. When she told me this I thought she was still ill from yesterday's piss up, but it turns out she feels bad about calling in sick this morning. She wasn't going to come to the cross race tomorrow because she felt guilty. To be honest, I found this almost laughable. If you feel bad about it, don't do it again. You can't do anything about it now. You've got the day off, so let's go riding.
That's probably one reason I don't like Facebook. It seems people go on the site to see what people they haven't seen in years are up to. You don't know them anymore. Friends come and go.
Okay, so you often hear people (motivational speakers?) telling you not to live in the past, but then they say something like "look to the future". I know a lot of upset people. They all are either angry or upset about something that has happened, or are worried about something that might happen. Isn't that what "looking to the future" really means? Planning, predicting, worrying? It's a waste of time and energy.

So, to conclude, balls to the past - it's gone. Tomorrow never comes, so there's no point in giving it any headspace. It's always today, so that's where we should be, in my opinion.
Bollocks. This was supposed to be about NOT putting my opinions out. How did I get here? I'm going to have to start thinking ahead while writing these blog posts.


P.S. - What do you think of my new off topic avoidance technique (note to self: write post about my off topic avoidance technique)? I think it's working quite well, but I don't expect I'll have any idea what I was going to write about from reading my notes at a later date.

Comments and critisisms always welcome. (The angry ones are always the funniest!)