I (21) have been quite unpopular today and, to be honest, it’s been very stressful.
Local elections were today in the UK and clearly I’d missed the memo. I’d only found out about the election a few minutes before my parents left to vote. I decided to abstain from voting as I was unprepared and I am incredibly ill informed on what the parties even stand for. I thought that was the most sensible decision in that situation.
My parents, especially my dad, were pissed and insulted I wouldn’t trust them enough to vote what they vote (reform). He said it was disappointing and that I was being stupid and stubborn. Maybe I was because I stood my ground. Again, I did not want to vote for a party I did not know about.
Later on, I was asked by my friends in a group chat who I voted for to which I was honest. It went down as well as the first time. I was called a privileged scumbag and childish and my argument was dismissed as a copout. I assume they voted for labour or Green, I don’t know. Maybe my biggest mistake was saying in this chat that “my individual vote didn’t matter much anyway.” People don’t really like that line of reasoning as it becomes less true the more people believe it.
I guess I could have just lied to both sides that I voted with them and avoided looking like a lazy fence sitter, but I didn’t really want to lie and I really didn’t think my reasoning was so criminal. Now everyone hates me instead of just one side of them. What do you think? Should I have just voted blindly? Am I a privileged, uninformed idiot for not voting?