DEAR ABBY: We were recently at dinner with longtime friends whose political views are different from ours. I believe in the rule of etiquette about avoiding the topics of politics and religion in mixed company. Well, somehow the conversation turned political. Voices were raised and I stood up and ended it.
There are now many hurt feelings with the parties involved still disagreeing about what happened and how it was handled. I know my actions were extreme, but things were out of control and I was upset. How do I deal with this if we are invited to future events? -- KEEPING THE PEACE
DEAR KEEPING THE PEACE: You may be worrying needlessly, because you may not be invited to future events -- at least until the next election is over. Whatever your friends were arguing about, while you had a right to speak up and say it was making you uncomfortable, because your reaction was "extreme," you may have been as rude as the others. If you caused hurt feelings that evening, you should apologize, if you haven't already.