LDS wrote:So it is in fact you that is offended and it is in fact you who wants to make an issue out of it, but you want to phrase it as "Other people will want to make an issue out of it" because for some reason you have a self-image that it's not you that is the one having issues, right?
And, no it's not a bizzare comparison, however, you're immediate dismissal of my comparison with extreme flippancy does indeed display your completely myopic world-view and entirely self-centred approach to difficult topics. If Pink thinks its an issue IT'S AN ISSUE. If Pink doesn't think it's an issue IT'S NOT AN ISSUE.
As someone who lives very close to Essex an has had relations attacked by skinheads in Essex, I think I would also have had the right to raise this issue you decide by your almighty righteousness in supposedly a NON-ISSUE, however, when someone suggests your regional sensitivities are potentially a NON-ISSUE, oh my, let's all feel the wrath... eh?
I'm not offended. The colours don't offend me. They would offend many people IF many people watched snooker. That's my point, and I think it's a reasonable one. It's possible to not be offended by something and still see that it's an issue. The two things are not mutually exclusive.
Yes, I was flippant about your point because, and I will say it here, it IS offensive that you think getting your head shaved is as divisive as the Northern Ireland question. Getting your head shaved can be seen as offensive, I'm not saying it can't, depending on the context. In certain contexts, deeply offensive. But I don't think you or I automatically assume that someone has shaved their head just to express Nazi sympathies, do we? If we found out they did, then yeah, that is hugely offensive. That's not a non-issue.
Unfortuntely, that is not the case when it comes to flags in Northern Ireland. Both the Union Jack and the Irish tricolour would widely be considered as a sign of aggression. Automatically. That's the sad reality of the place.
It's not always the case. WST clearly didn't use green, white and orange lights to show aggression. But it did show a lack of understanding, certainly.