What’s something you’ve forgiven but haven’t forgotten?

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I had a friend over the other week.

We got talking about politics. I know, I know, politics is risky, right? But I don’t normally mind. If I have a view on something, I’m quite happy to express it. But I’m not looking to sell anything. As long as I’m happy in my own head, I’ve got no overriding urge to convince anybody else that I’m right. If someone draws a different conclusion, so be it. We can still disagree amicably. 99% of the time, anyway.

Inevitably, the friend and I disagreed about a certain issue. I could have lived with that, except they then added, “… and I thought you were intelligent”.

I didn’t like that they made the argument personal. It spoiled the visit for me and we hardly spoke afterwards. Nobody lacks intelligence just because they disagree with someone. It just means they see something from a different perspective, that’s all. That’s why we have politicians who might vehemently disagree with each other, but will still sit together in the same room and debate.

My point? Well, I guess I’ll speak to them once we’ve both had a while to cool down. It seems silly to throw away a friendship over a comment. So I suppose that’s forgiveness. But I won’t debate politics with them in future, because I won’t forget that experience. It’ll just end up them telling me I’m stupid, and I don’t need that sort of shit.

But isn’t that just life? Don’t we all do that? We don’t forget stuff, we just toss it into a box marked “experience”, and we learn from it the next time?