conversation and bossing people about

Conversing is what we do all the time. We enjoy chatting to one another. Conversations are useful for working out what we think and how others are thinking … and indeed how they feel about us. But if we are too intent on talking about one favourite subject, we might be regarded as a bore. Especially if we show no interest in what others are saying. When we are coming from a minority view, and a moral one at that, no one is going to be happy if we grab all the airspace. It will be noticed. As soon as we start criticising someone for eating meat or condoning animal cruelty, they will want to stop us. If we don’t stop at their warning there will be a flare-up.
A light hearted chat between two people with opposing ideas, can soon enough turn into a full blown fight. To avoid this happening we have to ask ourselves some honest questions. Did I come with an agenda? Was I trying to manoeuvre things in order to make my speech? Did I have any thought as to how it might feel to others when I am confronting them, or how the tone in my voice reinforces my attack? Do I expect them to listen to me?
However good my arguments may be, can I afford to be too cocky or too embarrassing when I know they will want nothing better than to burst my bubble? They’ll fight me if they have to, to defend themselves against my bullying. And even if I am not a bully, even if I’m as nice as pie, this subject (ethics, animals, animal food, farms, slaughtering) is not a lightweight subject. It’s about a whole way of life. If people feel generally okay about their life, they’re not going to give way easily or casually pick up this "good" idea, just because we’ve bludgeoned them with it. A good idea can often be what the boss thinks.