Posts Tagged ‘misunderstanding’

27
Jan

SAY IT KINDLY

   Posted by: pastordiehl    in Uncategorized

Years ago, when we were still located in the little building downtown, I did a lot of Saturday weddings. Anita was always the neatnick and made sure everything was back in order for the Sunday morning services. She was always frustrated when people went outside on the front porch to smoke. She didn’t mind them smoking, but they would drop their cigarette butts on the cement porch floor. Anita always made sure the cigarette butts were picked up – a job she hated.

After one such wedding, Anita thought to herself, ‘You know, you can anything if you say it kindly.’ So, she approached a group of about five smokers on the porch and said, “We don’t mind you smoking out here, but when you’re finished, would you mind getting your butts off the porch?”

The people just blankly stared at her. A couple of seconds later it dawned on her what she had said and she was thoroughly embarrassed.

Have you ever stuck your foot in your mouth trying to be nice?

Tags: ,

No Comments
27
Mar

MISUNDERSTANDING

   Posted by: pastordiehl    in Communication Principles

A young boy and his stepfather had difficulty communicating with each other. The man was outgoing; the boy was quiet. The elder loved to fish; the youngster loved to read.

The stepfather, wanting to get close to the boy, took him on a fishing trip. The boy hated it but didn’t know how to tell his stepfather directly. So he wrote him a note saying he wanted to go home. The man looked at it and then stuck it in his pocket.

The fishing trip continued for 4 more days. When they finally returned home, the boy shared his frustration with his mother and told her that his father had paid no attention to his note. His mother said to him, “Son, your father can’t read!”

Part of communication is being able to understand what the other person is thinking. The stepson misunderstood his stepfather’s message when he put the note in his pocket as rejection. Have you ever felt rejected or hurt by someone’s actions that may have been a misunderstanding?

Tags: ,

2 Comments
Back to top