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In light of recent events, I've been forced to reexamine the way that I deal with how other people treat me. Coping mechanisms, if you will. I've done it all -- confrontation, passive-aggression, but the one way of coping that always served me the best (in the long run) was turning the other cheek. I am not afraid to speak my mind when I'm asked of it, or state my reasons for thinking something that I do (granted, they might not always be justified, and I will readily admit that) but I will not offer them unsolicited.

I give people the benefit of the doubt. Most I would give a second chance if asked. This has bitten me in the ass more than once, but I do it anyway -- because I believe people are inherently good. This might make me ignorant. But all I know is what I experience. Frankly, I don't care what other people say about how I deal with things, because I've come to this conclusion for a reason, as I'm sure everyone else has. We all create morals and guidelines for living based on our own experiences.

I don't appreciate it when someone writes off my reasoning because they believe theirs is inherently better when it's not -- it's just different. None is necessarily better than the other.

In the end, it comes down to values. What you value in other people and how their values always seem to come out in the end anyway. I want someone who's going to value the same things I do, because I'm tired of being treated as an imbecile for thinking differently.