(Or woman, for that matter). When I was overseas attending university, we had a robust group conversation one day in one of our courses. People were telling each other about themselves as a way of introduction, and a guy from New England was up next.

He started out strong, and when the professor asked him to say something about himself that people might be surprised about, he had the bravery to list a very surprising opinion he held on a very controversial subject.

Now while I may have disagreed with him in areas on that, I applauded his courage to express what he believed in publicly without hesitation. That is, he expressed that opinion until he was met with a chorus of objections from the majority of those in the classroom.

That was met by what we here in America call "a climbdown."

This is where someone, usually a public person, walks back a statement or opinion that they've made in the face of public disapproval. Taking those words back one by one and even at times sharing a press release that his/her words were "taken out of context." What? Come on. We all heard what you said and know what you met!

And that's what happened here...

I watched as he slowly, point by point, began to alter his original statement of belief on-the-fly.

It was so obvious and embarrassing to watch.

He was shaping his beliefs at the prodding of the crowd.

So you know me, of course I stepped in, making an attempt to arrest the shameful climbdown. I told him that he didn't offer anything that was illegal or immoral, he just expressed a slightly different take on the subject than most people in the class would have.

What I basically did, using polished language, was give him a delightful way to support his position, and wrapped it up in a nice little bow. It was something along the lines of; "I hear you, and I understand that you meant..."

However, he didn't grab the lifeline that I held out to him. He ducked my graceful way to stand his ground and cowered in the corner. Watching this big, powerful, Indian-American dude allow himself to be molded by his classmates was painful. But that's exactly what he did.

This is one of the reasons that I can respect a person who expresses his own thoughts on an issue without holding his finger up to see which way the wind was blowing first.

It takes a lot of courage and inner fortitude to do that.

Sometimes you will have to stand alone and hold firm like a rock, and that's OK. You'll be a bigger man for it.

Like those preppers who were ready in case of unrest back during Y2K. Or the others (myself included), who found out about COVID early in late 2019, and got ready knowing that the shelves would be picked clean.

These are the type of people that for instance, tend to be prepared when the weather goes crazy in hurricane country. The ones that don't have to be prodded to evacuate, but have a set plan in mind and execute it while everyone else makes fun of them and wrings their hands waiting for the government to tell them what to do.

They're the kind of people wouldn't be caught trapped on the streets in a long line of last-minute evacuees, as they'd have long since sought refuge elsewhere early on.

And that's why I've always said to be your own man, do your own research, and don't shape your opinion according to the passions of the crowd.