Oftentimes, I have had people exclaim to me, "You're so offensive!"

I reply, coolly, "I'm not mean. I'm just honest. It's really just up to you whether you find it offensive or not."

More than oftentimes, I have had people thank me for my honest, frank opinions.

So, returning to my point—how honest should you be when it comes to expressing your thoughts or opinions?

There's always that one friend who always smells (probably) due to a lack of daily showering, but doesn't realize it. Do you go ahead and tell him to shower every day instead of just spraying a ton of deodorant so it'll be easier for the rest of us to be around him? Or do you let him walk around being the smelly cat just for the sake of avoiding being "mean"?

What about that friend who likes to snoop around in everyone's business? Do you go ahead and tell them that by asking excessive, unsolicited questions about people's personal matters such as their love lives or whereabouts, they are making everyone uncomfortable and breaching people's right to privacy? Or do you just let them snoop around for another day?

What about that other friend who thinks he's the best at everything from academics, sports, and social life, to that game of pool he's never played before (but will win—anyways—since he is better than us)?

Well, personally, I am a narcissist-basher. It means that I like pulling at narcissists' legs and pointing out that, as much as they'd like to believe, they aren't better than everyone at everything.

But not everyone is as brutally honest. And in my opinion, not everyone should be.

As a rule of thumb, I follow these rules before deciding whether I want to speak up to someone about a concern regarding their behavior or actions: Firstly, put yourself in the place of the person in question. Would you like to know if you're smelling and need a shower? Of course. You'd even be thankful for the discreet mention, wouldn't you?

But as for something such as constantly snooping about other's matters, maybe you're just curious—a wild spirit. Maybe you're trying to get involved, add suggestions or make a positive change (which I highly doubt) Unsolicited questioning is unsolicited, and there is no way around it. If someone's behavior is making everyone uncomfortable and is detrimental for the whole group, step ahead and tell them. Perhaps you should say it in a nice way or sugarcoat it; but, you should get the point across.

You all may ask, why be that guy or girl? Why take the blow? Why be branded as the overtly honest and mean person?

I say, have courage. If you have to be a little straightforward to bring some changes about that will benefit your social circle as a whole-- so be it.

Because in the end, somebody has to do it.