Trojan Horse

I recently got into an internet argument (that is, an utterly pointless pissing contest) with another poster on a message board I frequent.  The person asked if there were any truth to the rumor (which I had never heard before) that babies can't breathe through their mouths, and would die if you hold their noses.  Since I'm not a complete knuckle-dragging fool, I replied "Seriously?  Don't you think that if babies could be suffocated by just holding their noses shut, it would be a BIG, WELL KNOWN DANGER!!! and not a rumor?"  Not surprisingly, he defended his position - anyone would, even if they were wrong.  But to my horror, other posters came to his defense!  "Well, babies don't LIKE to breathe through their mouths!"  "Babies only breathe through their mouths when in distress!"  Blah blah blah.

Look, I don't give a tiny little rat's ass about the physiology of infant humans.  But when I get a ration of shit for pointing out that yes, babies can breathe through their mouths, I get a little upset for the world.  Do I really have to accept ANY outlandish thing someone says as a sacrosanct belief, unassailable and reasonable?  It's bad enough that I have to accept everyone's kooky religion (yes, they're all kooky, even if god does exist).  Is every single utterance something that needs to be defended to the death?  And people wonder why I like to stay inside all day and avoid society?!

My problem is that I so very much want to avoid confrontation in my life.  That's what's going to send my heart into seizure, the rage that's stored up because, in real life, I don't release it in measured doses.  For example, I know a lot about old coins.  I'm not an expert, but quite knowledgeable.  At work once, a coworker mentioned how he thought he had found an error coin - a coin that was damaged while minting, but accidentally released anyway.  These can be very valuable.  He showed me his coin, and, unfortunately, it had what is called Post-Mint Damage - that is, it was damaged AFTER being released, and thus worth its face value only.  Despite the fact that my coworker KNEW I knew coins, and specifically asked me my opinion BECAUSE HE TRUSTED IT, he didn't believe me, got all pissy, and bragged to other coworkers how he was going to make hundreds or thousands of dollars.  Instead of arguing with him (which, honestly, would have been fruitless anyway), I just smiled and said, "OK, good luck!"

Then I beat up a puppy on the way home.  Well, not really.  I just bottled the anger up, to be released later in reaction to a commercial for vibrators or something.  It's really the only reasonable solution.