"Emily" wrote

You can think I'm anti-authority if you like, but my retired military
officer parents agree with my anti-authority streak, so your opinions
about it really mean nothing.

There you go, with your adversarial tactics. Mellow out. Keep your views,
but be pleasant about the whole thing. Honey attracts more bears than dog
sh*t.

Instead, you could have said something like, "my military parents think I'm
right in my views, and I'll just keep on expressing them like I have.
Instead, you had to make an attacking, last shot, put down.

Or when the cop said something in the airport., instead of attacking, you
could have said, "I love airplanes, and am a pilot, and think that airplanes
are the most beautiful things in the world, so I just need to capture the
beauty." I'll bet he would have said, "Oh, OK."and walked onward.

People react to attack by asserting their own authority. He had to make a
stand against you. You gave him absolutely no way out of the corner.
--
Jim in NC