"In my opinion"....

Last year I got into a bit of an argument with the tutor on my course regarding my assignment to do with professional ethics... mainly because the question started "In your opinion".  I presented her with my opinion, complete with reasoning, case law, statute etc to back it up.... trouble was, she didn't agree... oh, not with the work I'd put in but with the actual opinion..... so I appealed her grading on the grounds that as the entire piece was written on the basis that it was my own personal opinion then technically it couldn't actually be wrong.... I won the appeal and got it re-marked....... though I do have a new tutor this year!

Now, here's the thing.... around and about the net I see the words "In my opinion", or even "In my humble opinion" (though yeah, right as soon as I see that I can visualise the little soap boxes being dusted off) all the time.  I have no problem with this, everyone has the right to their own opinion.  You don't need to agree with someone's opinion, you could in fact have a completely opposite opinion, but that doesn't mean you have the right to either shout them down as being completely wrong and therefore their opinion is invalid, or that you shouldn't listen to them at all.  It's a matter of courtesy... you listen, you disagree (politely!) and you walk away.... as an example, one one of the dog forums I used to visit they are very into the "human is the leader of the pack" method of training..... I don't agree with this, that's fine, I am happy to disagree....

So to tie this in with my hate of labels.... recently I have seen people use the fact that due to their gender, race, sexuality, religion (or any other minority type label they can attach to themselves) that their opinion must be more valid than someone who does not tick as many boxes as they do on the label menu..... no sorry, your opinion is your opinion... sure I will listen to your opinion and may give more weight to it when assessing my own opinion if you've got experience in a certain area... but I still maintain the right to disagree and have my own opinion... which likewise I would never expect anyone to be forced to agree with

Hell I even have opinions on things generally that I would never consider personally... I have opinions that possibly disagree with the opinions people think I should have because of a particular box on the label spectrum that they think that I should tick...

So having dusted off my own soap box and ranted for a bit I shall return to my own little bubble, forming my own opinions and listening to other peoples opinions......  I am sure that anyone passing by to read this will probably have their own opinions too.....