I'm finding it upsetting that if I venture an opinion and hear, "You have a valid point. I see what you're saying," chances are it's a friend, casual acquaintance, or maybe even a perfect stranger talking. But if instead I'm challenged, questioned, debated, and argued with, chances are great that I share a significant amount of DNA with that person. I remember my father once having the same frustration. When an argument began with my mother, he said, "Why is it I can make a statement to a hundred random people in the world and be agreed with, then come home and say the same thing to you, and I'm always wrong?" Of course she immediately told him what he was full of for feeling that way, proving his point.

Why does this happen? How is it I can be right, as far as anyone else is concerned, but just plain dumb in my own family's eyes?