Day 44 - Insult

 INSULT 

Prompt - Insult : Write about being insulted.  How do you feel?  Why do you think the other person insulted you?

If you fancy being insulted you only have to go on Twitter.  Query somebody's political views, especially if they show any signs of extremism (and there are plenty of them around), and you'll soon find yourself insulted.  I got into an exchange with a group of unionists, happy in their own wee bubble (as indy supporters often can be too), who didn't like me pointing out the errors in some of their 'facts'.  One immediately decided I was an 'SNP clown, nationalist and anglophobe'.  Which is interesting, because I wouldn't see myself as any of those, and have the evidence to back it up.  

I might vote for the SNP, but they are a vehicle of convenience.  If I desperately want to go to Vilnius, and it turns out that the only direct flight is on Ryanair I'll hold my nose and go with Mr O'Leary's underpaid minions.  Doesn't make me a fan of Ryanair though.  I'll only vote for parties that further the cause of Scottish independence, and that means SNP are, at the moment, the only realistic place to put my vote, at least at constituency level.

The nationalist label is an interesting one, and I suppose it depends how you define it.  It's a term I reject, almost as much as the daft 'patriot'.  The latter suggests to me the "my country, right or wrong" approach, which I would certainly never subscribe to.  Scotland can make mistakes as much as any other nation.  While 'nationalist' is, again in my own head, someone who thinks their country superior to others.  We might be in some ways, but certainly not in others.  

As for anglophobe...  I asked if he'd like to check that with my Liverpudlian wife.  Or the majority of my best friends.  Who are English, living in England, where I stayed for 35 years.  He didn't seem to want to know after that.

Insults can be wounding.  If you let them be.  This one was mildly irritating, but so ludicrous that it made me laugh more than anything else.  Twitter insults are invariably the most fun.