Hear Ye, Hear Ye

In the old days of England, the Town Crier had the official duty of standing in public and shouting, or “crying” official announcements.  Sometimes he’d ring a hand-bell and shout Hear Ye, Hear Ye to attract more attention.  Hear Ye simply means Listen Up, People… 

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When I have something important to say, I don’t ring a bell.  I don’t shout.  And I certainly don’t stand on a street corner with a scroll.  I usually just make my point calmly and hope that people have their ears open and brains tuned-in. 

Note that this calm-talking tactic only works when the husband person you are addressing is looking at you.  If they are peering over your shoulder at the ESPN Sports Report, you do not have his their attention.  In these circumstances, you have my permission to invest in a large hand-bell.  Ring-a-ding-ding-ding.  

Announcing facts like a Town Crier vs. stating opinion are different, yet I know a lot of people who state their opinions as if they are facts.  And, it can boil over into an argument when the other person disagrees or is passionate about the topic. 

I’m not shy about expressing my opinions during conversation, but I don’t go out of my way to argue a point.  I rarely stand on soap boxes.  My father, on the other hand, was born on a soap box. 

Me:  Hi Dad.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Dad:  Hi Kiddo.  Did you see the paper today?

Me:  Well, yaaaaa.  Tomorrow is Black Friday.  Didn’t everyone in America get today’s newspaper?  It’s super-coupon day, don’t ya know. 

Dad:  Did you read anything except the ads?

Me:  Nope.

Dad:  I wrote an editorial.

Me:  Oh no!  Dad!  You didn’t!  Not again!  It’s Thanksgiving for goodness sake.

Dad:  I didn’t know they were going to publish it today.  It’s a holiday and the editor probably needed to fill space.

Me:  Do I even need to ask what it’s about?

Dad:  You know what it’s about.  And…I even said that….

Me:  Oh Vey!  Dad!  Can’t you keep your opinions to yourself?

Dad:  Nope.

The thing about opinions is that they’re expressed from a person’s personal point-of-view.  Opinions are not right, wrong, true, or false.  They are based on a set of facts, filtered through our intellects, emotions, circumstances, and perspectives.  

Think of everything in the world…going through your personalized filter system…

Regardless of what comes out the other end of our internal filters…we are constantly making decisions about what to express and what to keep to ourselves. 

There are too many times when I wish I could have hit the rewind button and took back something I said, or expressed my opinion differently.  However, there have also been times when I kept quiet but should have had the courage to express my unpopular opinion.  What about you?

Do you find it easy or difficult to express your opinions, especially the unpopular ones?