Sometimes I throw around article ideas with my sister, and once she jokingly said, “How about one that talks about how people get offended by literally everything.” We laughed and moved on, until I really thought about it, and decided that I kind of want to be someone who recognizes this phenomena in a more expansive way than just an intentionally offensive meme.

My attempt at a little lightheartedness will hopefully soften the blow (though I wouldn’t really call it that). And it’s true that I didn’t have to write about this, but, if I'm being honest, I needed to say it. I guess these views come from the part of me that actively avoids conflict, but that makes me think that the people who do get offended easily enjoy it. But why? Why do you want to argue with a hotheaded virtual stranger over something that could have stayed private? Did you expect your public outburst to go viral and suddenly make every person stop and say, “You know what . . . this random, clearly impulsive, borderline illiterate Facebook user is right! I should abandon everything I believe in because they inarticulately told me to do so!”

Not to say that you don't have the right to feel a certain way, but the extent to which these overreactions are defended is unnecessary. I am Native American -- not just one of those people who says they’re 1/100 Cherokee, but an officially enrolled, active member of a local tribe -- and I think I may be the only one who wasn’t offended by that one time Khloe Kardashian wore a headdress in an Instagram photo. Do you genuinely think she put that on to personally offend every Native American who sees it? What if she was appreciating the beauty of our culture? Every person is offended by something different, but your ranty Facebook post or accusatory picture comment won’t change what someone else thinks or says or does if they don't already agree with you.

You can’t tell me you’ve never said you were depressed on a single given day despite a lack of official diagnosis, or used the word "retarded" when you were younger. We've all been offensive or have been offended--I just want to know what makes all these people think their opinions and feelings are more important than everyone else's. If every single person on this earth had to stop saying something that affected even just one person negatively, we would all be mute.

Lately, I feel like I can’t be myself without getting reprimanded for it. Making new friends has become less exciting and more nerve-wracking, because what if I say the wrong thing? And not as in I stutter on a simple word or accidentally share too much too soon, but say something that causes a legitimate argument (one-sided, of course, because I can’t imagine I would do anything but stay silent or just walk away).

In one of my English classes, we had to read a short story and write about what we know or think of the author -- who they are, how old they are, what they’re talking about -- and I struggled with my answer because the entire class had access to my response, and I didn’t want to offend someone by saying that I thought the narrator was a woman, even though it didn’t specifically say, “I am the narrator of this short story and I am a woman.” Would you be surprised if I told you that I came to class the next day and that exact argument actually ensued between two of my classmates? I sure wasn’t.

I realize this article might seem hypocritical, but I’m not trying to become one of those infamous Facebook users. I might hope this puts your entitled mindset into perspective, but it’s mostly just to voice my (and hopefully many other people’s) annoyances and vocal inhibitions. I suppose you can keep on letting everyone who will listen (and even those who won't) know that, "Hey! This offends me!!!!" but unless you stay off the internet for the rest of your life, you will always be offended by something.

Now, let the offense commence (because let’s be honest: despite my best effort, someone will be offended by this post).