communication roadblocks
in an effort to save money my husband and i changed our home phone to a new service called “magic jack,” a device that routes calls through the computer. its only a fraction of what we paid before and seemed like a great way to go. unfortunately i have yet to get this thing to work! my mom called last night and when i picked up the phone all i could hear was a fast busy signal. very frustrating. the whole point of having a telephone is to improve communication, right?
i thought about canceling the home phone all together and sticking with cellular, but then i have to worry about dropped calls or bad service. more often than not i resemble the verizon commercial guy, “can you hear me now?”
sometimes the problem with not being heard is related to the words we use, not only the device we say them on. i chatted recently with a friend on facebook, then we made plans to meet at skidmore fountain. after driving downtown, actually finding a free parking space, then wondering through the saturday market crowd i stood at the fountain waiting for her. and waited. called her cell phone, no answer. still waited.
finally, she called me from naito parkway and salmon street sitting in front of what she thought was skidmore fountain—nope, that’s the salmon street springs. but i was also at fault since i had been calling her office number, not her cell. thankfully once we were both in the same place we had a great time.
maybe i’ll continue with magic jack, maybe i won’t. but either way, it seems i have more listening to do before i can truly be heard.
April 7, 2009
Oh Camille, What a wonderful post! I found myself smiling, shaking my head as I read. You nailed it! “Real” communication is one of the toughest things to accomplish. We often think we’ve told someone something, or that we’ve heard everything that the other person has to say on a particular matter…only to learn that we did not hear it at all. I wonder what it is about the listening process that is so difficult? I strive to be an effective listener, only to find that I have more work ahead of me. Enjoy the beautiful spring weather as we listen to the birds sing.
April 8, 2009
Let me know if the Magic Jack thing ever starts working out for you… Hol and I are considering it, but if it continues to misbehave… fuggedaboutit.
April 9, 2009
I’m not sure what you are trying to say here. Maybe we aren’t communicating. LOL.
Actually…an excellent post…as well as a challenge for all us us to do better in an area of need. Good work.