Expressing Opinions

Opinions. Everyone has them. Whether you like a song or not, your best friend or your worst enemy, these are all opinions in which other people may disagree with. These opinions allow people to express themselves and show that they are different. The opinions of one person may differ greatly from another, showing the difference in personality and taste between these people.
In this world, expressing opinions is greatly encouraged. Because it is considered as "expressing yourself" no one goes against the ideas of opening up. Of course opinions can clash and can cause debates but this is just another form of "expressing yourself." I never really thought about limitations in expressing opinions until yesturday.
My friend and I walked into a restaurant yesturday. I ordered my favorite dish, The New York Strip Steak. I LOVE its medium-well done, juicy, and tender meat which simply makes my mouth water for more. My vegetarian friend thought otherwise.
"How can you eat that poor cow? Poor thing, chopped like that and cooked that way..."
I felt as if I were slapped in the face. How could she say that when I was just about to eat the "poor cow." My scrumptious meal just turned into a bloody picture and my ravenous appetite faded for a few minutes.
My very open-minded friend was oblivious to what she had just done. She continued to munch away on her colorful salad covered in Italian dressing. How rude of her to express herself in such a way and not even regard my opinions. For those few minutes, I waited in annoyance for my appetite to return.
I had a strong urge to make her gag by saying some thing like 'You know, that dressing probably had a lot of animal fat...' but that would also make me a rude person and the bad guy. Instead, I simply replied with a demonstration.
"Easy. Just watch and learn." as I cut the steak carefully and popped it in my mouth. My friend watched and cringed as I began to chew in a steady pace. Then, she continued to munch on her salad.
At that moment, I realized that expressing opinions should be limited. In some cases, such as this one, if they are not limited, the situation may make you sound very rude, even if it wasn't intended to be. I still love my friend very much but she still has a lot to learn.

-Hannah K.