We all have opinions—in fact, lots of opinions. Some of them are based on actually existing situations, and many are so wrong-headed as to be laughable. And yet, try to go up against someone else’s opinions, and you are likely to make an enemy for life. Attack an opinion, and you are in effect attacking the person who holds it.

I have been wrong about many things. So much so that I tend to regard my opinions as penciled on a scratch pad rather than cut into stone with all capital letters. At age 21, I was all gung-ho for the American participation in the Viet Nam War. I was also a devout Catholic who attended Mass every Sunday. I thought that seafood was terrible (understandable when one was raised on the shores of Lake Erie).

Nowadays, if you impugn any of my opinions, you are likely to be met with a shrug. I do not see an attack on what I believe in as an attack on me. All my friends think some of my opinions are out of line. They’re just different. That’s all.

I look back and find that many of the people I’ve loved in this life held (and still hold) beliefs that were opposed to mine. I guess not everyone I meet is a carbon copy of me. For that I am thankful!