> You never spend dinner with people who spent that time being condescending or insulting something close to you? Oh, sure. I've probably also inadvertently b

> You never spend dinner with people who spent that time being condescending or insulting something close to you? Oh, sure. I've probably also inadvertently been the one who was condescending or insulting before too. People are fallible and some fraction of them are pretty shitty. But my experience is that the fraction is low enough that it's worth rolling the dice to find new connections with the larger fraction of people that are generally pretty good. I can take an insult or a boring conversation. > Acvepting situation in which they talk and you are silent or submissive. I think human interaction is a lot more varied than a binary choice between arguing or rolling over.