No argument needed, I've won

So I've recently finished six weeks of debating classes, and I thought it was about time I blogged about it.

The final conclusion is... six weeks later I'm still crap. I think I can just resign myself to the bitter reality that debating is something I will never be good at. I can add it to the long list of useful things I wish I could do, like sailing; or forming coherent sentences, or not scaring strangers by asking what their top 5 favourite puddings are. But no.

So my motivation behind starting the whole debating classes was mainly, because I was getting fed up with losing every argument I ever found myself in. My usual technique is to sit by and inwardly seethe but this has lead to such unpleasant occasions as finding myself once sitting next to someone who described chairman Mao as "not such a bad chap actually". To be fair, on that occasion it was better that I just held my tongue as violence would have probably ensured.

So on the occasions when I did allow myself to become entangled in arguments I would inevitably lose. Entangled is definitely the right word too to describe my efforts too. I'm going to be really geeky (for once, HO HO) and reference Lord of the Rings... you know when Frodo and Sam are playing hide and seek or some shit in the giant cave with the fuck off spider (which scares the living daylights out of me) and Frodo gets tangled up in the web (stupid sod) and he's stuck and it's all uber traumatic and tense? Well, the analogy I am (eventually) getting to is that Frodo is stuck and helpless and he has no idea how he got there. Which is exactly what happens to me when I argue. Obviously I mean without the giant spider with murderous intentions and a hobbit, but you get my drift. A BLOODY MESS basically.

Also, to summarise, here is an image of what I've been banging on about:

I allow my emotions and my tongue to argue before I even BOTHER to attempt and engage my brain, and this happens EVERY TIME. So I'll try and make a sound (aka, counter-argument) and all that come out is "GNAAAARRRRGGGHHH.... NO!" which, in the grand scheme of things... is pretty rubbish as far as replies go. This then pisses me off, and I will probably end up crying or calling my opponent a horrible person who I will hate forever. I should clarify though, this is generally only the case with relatives - with friends I'll just harbour some casual resentment and then inevitably get distracted by something shiny and the whole debacle is forgotten. As far as debating and discussion go, I'm officially shite. Hence why I signed up for debating classes - I was going through a scary phase of 'Actioning' stuff, thankfully it didn't last very long.

So the debating classes were pretty hilarious. I'm fairly sure they weren't meant to be, but they were. There were some absolute comedy characters who made it a really fun experience. My stand out personal favourite has to be Rosa, who is Spanish. That's pretty much all I (or anyone else in the class) knows, as you literally couldn't understand a word she said. Which can make for an interesting debate. Believe me.

Next in my failed attempts at personal development: Watching more Lord of the Rings so I can remember the name of the giant spider. WIN.