Why do I feel embarrassed?

I am planning another visit to the gym today for a swim. I am meeting a friend there. It was always a welcoming place, safe and secure. Now I feel embarrassed to go there. Like I farted in the Reception area or threw up over the desk or any other thing which would mark me out as an undesirable. But all I did was persist with my campaign to cease the use of free plastic bags. I think the clue is in the word 'persist', it is rude to persist. It is the equivalent of answering back, and I did it twice. To be a successful campaigner I will have to shed these polite values and toughen up. If it were as easy as bringing an issue to the attention of others it would not be a problem. They know that what I am saying is right. They knew that the first time, but they don't want to change. No-one wants to change. It is inconvenient. So they must be 'encouraged' to change and my dilema is to find a way to do this which does not alienate and isolate me. I must find a 'nice' way which is at the same time powerful and effective........

Twice this week people I like and respect have walked into my house carrying plastic tesco bags. The 'free' ones that I used to take without a second thought just a short time ago but which now conjure up visisons of dead turtles and scenes of atomic aftermath as they flutter from bare branches in devasted landscapes. I thought............ 'No, no, no, do you know that most plastic bags are used for only 12 minutes and take over 500 years to decompose?' I said............ 'nothing.' I must learn to walk this tight rope and get my message across (more than once) without pushing people away. This is my 'oneperson' mission.