I can't see clearly

Last Sunday's elections were won by the right-wing PP party with the unpronounceable (at least for me) left-wing PSOE coming a close second but claiming a de facto victory because, if they make a load of pacts with a gazillion smaller parties, they can scrunch enough seats together to gain an overall majority.

Trouble is, there's no such thing as free lunch and these smaller parties - whiffing the scent of desperation from the big boys - look set to make extraordinarily exacting demands, mostly involving independence for their regions and, possibly, the hand in marriage of any PSOE politician's daughter that may take their fancy. Meanwhile, the PP's pacting possibilities look slim to non-existent.

However, speaking to some of our customers in the aftermath, it seems they're all convinced their side has won which, I suppose, in such an ambiguous set of circumstances, is technically true. It's also true that, technically, they've both lost.

What's really surprising, though, is the number of people on both sides of the fence who are convinced that anyone who didn't vote the way they did is a bit thick, steadfastly missing the irony of the fact that anyone who thinks like that is, er, well, probably a bit thick. Last night, one chap leaned over the bar, winking conspiratorially.

"People who vote like that, they're not very bright, you see. It's not their fault but, you know..."

His non- argument trailed off into the ether just as he was realising that he'd plonked his elbow in a puddle of beer. Some might say it wasn't a particularly bright thing to do.

That's the thing these days. We're so wrapped up in our own worlds, staring at screens, feeding our already firmly entrenched views with endless diatribes from like-minded souls - and calling anyone who doesn't concur an idiot, or worse - that our capacity for flexibility and nuance has been all but irrevocably eroded.

In a bid to reverse this tendency, in between the pictures of other people's plates of food, I've got both left-wing and right- wing commentators popping up on my social media feeds. Funny thing is, more often than not, the pompous, unquestioning tone on both sides provokes the strongest of urges to take the opposite point of view, not to mention biff the bloke on the boko.

These people are, in theory, professional writers and politicians but it seems they have no interest in winning over any doubters or people who aren't so cock-sure of everything, but would rather play to their fixed gallery of onlookers who already think like they do anyway.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is quite clearly one of the main reasons why everything remains so unclear.