So when did we all get so sensitive and, frankly, annoying? Right now, my Facebook feed is chock-full of people who are mad at other people for having opinions and stating them. 

Seriously. It's like everyone is mad at everyone else. It's Christmastime, for crying out loud. Shouldn't we all be celebrating our similarities and trying to be kinder to our fellow human beings?

Sheesh. I feel like we need a referee.

I decided to spell it out for all of you, since I'm always right about everything. Here you are:  OPINIONS ARE NOT FACTS.

There you go.

They're not. They're what a person feels like about any particular given thing, and whether or not that person is right is irrelevant. He or she is allowed to feel however he or she likes about any given topic.

This does not mean his or her feelings are not stupid. It just means that I really want to support his or her right to speak his or her mind (or lack thereof), because if he or she is limited, I can be, too. If someone tries to stifle my fart jokes, I could die. That would also be lame because I'm sure your opinions are super great. I'm also not referring to people who use their opinions to make laws. Those kinds of opinions are dangerous and should be stopped. I don't want anyone else making my choices illegal if they aren't affecting anyone but me. I call shenanigans on that. Not cool. 

So let's all learn a trick to get through the holidays, because we all know we're going to get an earful of some old guy's ramblings about why the (insert name of some group of people) are not as good as the (insert name of another group of people). It's called, "smile, nod, and walk away."

Yep, it's as easy as it sounds. Smile, nod, and walk away. Just because you don't agree with him doesn't mean you have to smack him. And we all know yelling back is completely ineffective with some people. Just, let him have his stupid, ridiculous opinion. There may be some people that just weren't meant to be friends with other people, especially if they can't overlook differences and love and support each other. (Wow, I went all hippie there for a minute. Peace, my brothers and sisters. Anyway…)

After smiling, nodding, and walking away, go find a group of awesome people and make fun of the old guy. In addition, one can always try to feel better by remembering that we live in a day and time where we can still speak our minds, and that's a pretty gosh darn amazing thing.

That's the true Christmas spirit. Well, that, and vodka.