The Fire Starter

For a person who hates arguing, I sure know how to start an argument. I never do it on purpose. I'll do pretty much anything to avoid them. In group projects, I pretend that I'm not upset with people when they don't do their work because they'll just get mad. And it's not my job to make them mad, or to make them do their work. It's all up to them. And if they get in trouble, it's on them. And oh yeah, I'll do anything to avoid being responsible for anyone else's issues. I just don't want to relive the four hour arguments between my uncles or the heated debates we have in my history classes. Yep, I did start a four hour argument. It was between my uncles-one who is a Democrat, the other, who was a Republican. You know what started it all? The uncle who was Republican asked about school. Of course I told the truth. That was a mistake. (no, I won't exactly lie to avoid arguments, but I've gotten into a habit of sugarcoating) They argued for hours about Obama and the education in our country. I wanted to leave, but my great grandmother, who lived with one of them insisted that I stay. So I did. And I had to suffer. (You don't want to know how I feel when I'm the one engaged in an argument. Grr.) In my history class, I am one of the most conservative people in there-which is really surprising to me. I live in the Bible Belt after all, and to them I am way to the left. So when I express my opinions-once again not for agreement, just to throw ideas out there, I start very heated debates. People yell at each other and leave the room. And I feel responsible. It makes me pretty upset. There are days when I'm like-please just get me the heck out of here. I'm sick of making people angry. I do it almost every day. I'm sick of it. People don't have to complicate things by arguing about everything.