Anyone you know ever said anything to you that's made you change your opinion of them?

[TrustPenguins]

Kind of light-hearted but...

Two examples recently:

1. A friend admitted (rather sheepishly) that he voted Tory. He said it was because of Labour's intended VAT on private school fees (his children go to private school). That was his sole reason.

I feel this was selfish and he wasn't looking at the bigger picture. I've always been taught to vote with the most vulnerable person you know in mind and of what is in their best interests. I was also shocked that a good friend would vote Tory full stop!

1. Another friend said he was supporting Spain in the football last night. Apparently his Mum is Scottish and his Dad is Scouse so they've never supported England (friend is English). When England played Italy in the previous final, he was cheering on Italy. When Italy won, he was celebrating whilst his kids were crying (they were supporting England). Just seems strange to me.

Obviously anyone can vote for and support who they like but I just never expected these friends to say / do this, and rightly or wrongly, it has changed my opinion of them a bit.
Just when you think you know someone...! 🤣

Anyone got any other examples?

Putting an X in a box every five years does not make you a good person OP. Or your friend a bad one. And if his kids go to private school he may think it hypocritical to vote for any party that is against it (which is most of them). Good on him. Don't judge other people's reasons for voting how they do. We all walk in our own shoes. He may think you are a virtue-signalling judgmental fool for all we know.

Anti-semetism coming out in a couple of friends I had thought were normal since October 7th is quite shocking.

It's because the England goalkeeper is the Everton goal keeper, so if the Liverpool person supports Liverpool they'll hate on whatever Pickford is doing, and they absolutely hate that he's England's no.1

It's the Liverpool supporting people that live in Liverpool, because England's goalkeeper plays for Everton, still.males no sense as you'd want England to win but that's Liverpool supporters for you 🤣🤣

I was once on a train and saw my male colleague at the other end of the carriage sprint to slip into a seat on the underground before a heavily pregnant woman reached the same seat.

The person next to him stood up to give his seat to the lady, but I never saw this colleague in the same light again.

You didn’t ask me but people who can’t advocate for themselves, people who don’t have the level of privilege that some people have.

I work with a lot of people who fit this category, I volunteer with them and have adopted kids who fit this category.

There’s no way, seeing what I see daily, that in good conscience I could vote thinking only about myself or my family (not discounting that some of my family fit this demographic)

I think that's reasonable. Everyone walks in their own shoes and you adopt vulnerable children which is amazing. So that's something that affects you, is part of your life and you vote accordingly. Doesn't make someone else's vote wrong if they vote according to what they believe of course which Im sure you know, as you don't sound as judgmental as some on this thread.

It is quite weird to go off someone because they voted for a mainstream political party, especially when both Tory and Labour spent most of the election fighting over the middle ground and were regularly accused of not being that different in their ideas.

If I was an ardent left winger like you, I would disapprove of watching and celebrating a bunch of incredibly rich men running around on a pitch with another bunch of incredibly rich men.

Agreed OP. There's a lot of 'holier than thou' comments like this on mn.

Agreed OP. There's a lot of 'holier than thou' comments like this on mn.

It's loosely connected to sociopaths..... killing small animals/insects for fun although it usually starts in childhood.

Actually, I wasn’t at all brought up to vote for one particular party. Nor does one party have my allegiance-I don’t/haven’t always voted Labour at all; I have in the past but I did not vote for them this time.

It’s not about being virtuous.It’s about instinct. Personally, we’d definitely be better off under a Tory government as we’d likely pay less tax. But as I said, it’s those without a voice such as asylum seekers and people who cannot read or write (through work I’m in contact with people from both these sections of society) that need me to vote in a way that my conscience tells me will help them.

But just for the record, you’ll note that I said I have no problem with anyone else using their democratic vote for whomever they choose. If I met someone this week and they told me they voted Tory this time, I would be more interested in asking them why as I like to learn and think you can only comment on politics if you don’t live in an echo chamber and you understand why people make the choices they do.

It’s not about being better off oneself though is it? If our NHS is better funded then we don’t have so many people with mental health issues not being looked after properly and we all suffer. Similarly if we don’t have enough police, prisons are not well run etc etc. It really isn’t to do with personal wealth. And I don’t say that I wouldn’t get in with someone who had different views - I just know that because our values are very different then we wouldn’t get on at a deeper level. So for example someone whose aim in life is to buy an Aston Martin is not my kind of person. And that’s fine; I won’t be theirs either!! And by the way it’s not about believing that a party will magically do everything right, it’s about choosing the best possible compromise.

So for example someone whose aim in life is to buy an Aston Martin is not my kind of person.

Fleetheart do you only mix with people who agree with everything you think?

How intolerant. People make choices which differ from you. Shock, Horror!!
Oh, and FYI, I eat meat.

I think it goes back further than Pickford, I remember Liverpool people not supporting England in the 80s before he was even born, but I was a kid then and didn’t really think anything of it.

I looked this up as I was curious. There's a saying in Liverpool 'Scouse not English' - apparently Liverpudlians don't identify with England.

Which country do they think they are from, out of interest?

This says more about you than them I think

I relate to your friend number 2 about England. It's not England team exactly, but I can't stand so many of the fans. Totally arrogant. It's coming come, before it does! It's that mentality they are better then everyone else. Aggressive fans, media is full on, full of shit. Having lived in another country where football is strong and popular. and their team won was fun. They don't bang on about it, the fans are pretty fun and loveable as far as football goes. And the media is quieter about it. Yeah, I relate to your friend. We'd never hear the end of it, and that would be unbearble 😅

They see themselves as Liverpudlians, they even boo the National Anthem. It's to do with the way Liverpool experienced managed decline and has been treated by various governments, particularly Thatcher. It's the way Hillsborough was handled and their former position as second city due to immigration and the docks.

What if the person has worked 2 jobs, scrimped and saved and managed to buy the Aston Martin. Would you still disapprove?

A few people I know are conspiracy theorists, I've completely changed my opinion of them after they were rude to me and told me to go and educate myself ( I am unlike them).

They also come out with some racist comments, and I can't abide that sort of thing.

i suppose my issue with that how do you know the party you picked does actually benefit either asylum seekers or those who struggle with literacy? If you claim to be acting in someone else’s interests how do you know what these interests are? How do you know they “need” you to vote in a certain way?

I am descended from refugees. They would be horrified at many of the policies and behavior of (eg) the Green Party because of their open antisemitism. How do you know these asylum seekers you claim to vote on behalf of are happy with any particular party’s policies on every issue? People are complicated and have many different opinions and needs on many issues. Same with people who struggle with literacy- they may think (eg) that climate change is a hoax. How can you fully capture their interests with your “instincts”?

im not taking issue with the party you chose to pick (whoever it is). However I do dispute that you are really voting on the basis of someone else’s interests. You don’t know what these interests are or what sort of society they want. So maybe it’s better to be honest and admit you are voting for what you want rather than it being some selfless act. Which is fine.

a friend posted a video during covid of a supposedly empty hospital,
saying that covid wasn't real. I haven't been able to take a word she says seriously since.
a friend said she couldn't ever be friends with a Tory. I'm not a Tory but thought it was an incredibly stupid thing to say. Changed my view of her.
A Scottish friend has been making very subtly anti english comments for years, disguised beneath the banter banner. She posted comments on Sunday which have changed my view of her forever.

When a colleague stamped on a spider , in full view of the class ( y4 )