# examples of poor communication



## EAM (May 5, 2009)

Can you think of some good examples of poor communication, either from history or from literature?  Where one party intends to express something but the recipient hears it another way?


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## wackymother (May 5, 2009)

Romeo and Juliet!


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## pgnewarkboy (May 5, 2009)

I don't have a clue what you are talking about!


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## BocaBum99 (May 5, 2009)

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.  The entire book is entirely based on this premise.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 5, 2009)

*AN EXAMPLE OF MISCOMMUNICATIONS*

A young husband comes home one night, and his wife throws her arms around his neck: "Darling, I have great news: I'm a month overdue. I think we're going to have a baby! The doctor gave me a test today, but until we find out for sure, we can't tell anybody."

******

The next day, a guy from the electric company rings the door-bell, because the young couple hasn't paid their last bill: "Are you Mrs.. Smith? You're a month overdue, you know!"

"How do YOU know?" stammers the young woman.

"Well, ma'am, it's in our files!" says the man from the electric company."

"What are you saying? It's in your files?????"

"Absolutely."

"Well, let me talk to my husband about this tonight."

******

That night, she tells her husband about the visit, and he, mad as a bull, rushes to the electric company offices the first thing the next morning.

"What's going on here? You have it on file that my wife is a month overdue? What business is that of yours?" the husband shouts.

"Just calm down," says the clerk, "it's nothing serious. All you have to do is pay us."

"PAY you? and if I refuse?"

"Well, in that case, sir, we'd have no option but to cut yours off."

"And what would my wife do then?" the husband asks.

"I don't know. I guess she'd have to use a candle."


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## itchyfeet (May 5, 2009)

:hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical:


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## JeffW (May 5, 2009)

How about the issue with a Mars explorer a few years ago - some of the calculations were done in US units, others in metric.  Needless to say, not a big surprise that it crashed into the planet.


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## EZ-ED (May 5, 2009)

I retired (at an early age) from being an Air Traffic Controller. 

One day in the radar room two controllers were working air traffic in adjacent air space. Controller 1 is very busy when he is contacted via recorded land line by Controller 2. Controller 2 is requesting an early decent of an inbound jumbo jet to a specific altitude in the airspace of Controller 1. As Controller 1 is communicating at that moment with a departing pilot he turns to Controller 2 and gives a thumbs down. Controller 1 assumes that Controller 2 understands and Controller 2 assumes he has approval and that Controller 1 will now take steps to protect/avoid Controller 2's jumbo jet.

The outcome was a near midair collision between the inbound jumbo and a departing air carrier. Controller 2 assumed the thumbs down meant descend whereas Controller 1 meant that thumbs down is NO. Both air carrier crews were going through checklists and had their heads in the cockpits and not looking out the windows. The miss was some 200 feet. Both controllers were withdrawn from active duty, retrained and re certified.

Lack of positive communication between controller to controller or controller to pilot is a problem that makes me a white knuckle flier to this day.


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## isisdave (May 5, 2009)

My wife's a marriage counselor, and it's mostly poor communication that keeps her in business.  She regularly teaches a three-session communications program to couples on various degrees of "rockiness."


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## MuranoJo (May 6, 2009)

T_R_Oglodyte said:


> *AN EXAMPLE OF MISCOMMUNICATIONS*
> 
> A young husband comes home one night, and his wife throws her arms around his neck: "Darling, I have great news: I'm a month overdue. I think we're going to have a baby! The doctor gave me a test today, but until we find out for sure, we can't tell anybody."
> 
> ...



Thank you, Steve!  That had to be one of the funniest I've heard for awhile.  I needed it today.


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## Wonka (May 6, 2009)

*I'll have the Popcorn Special*

This conversation actually happened to me.  As a prelude, we were at the Movie theater and I was ordering their special...a large popcorn & large coke for $9.50.

I said, "I'll have a large popcorn and coke special", and the clerk replied, "I'm sorry, we're out of large coke cups".  I replied, "That's ok since the special provides free refills anyway a medium coke will be fine." 

At that point, the clerk filled the popcorn and coke and said, "That'll be $11.50".  I said, "Huh, the special is $9.50".  She replied, "But, you only ordered a medium coke."  I replied, "No, I ordered the special and agreed to a substitution of a medium coke since you were out of the large cups."  There was a young Manager nearby.  I asked for his help.  He couldn't figure out why I was upset.

I gave up.  Life's too short.


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## happymum (May 6, 2009)

EZ-ED said:


> I retired (at an early age) from being an Air Traffic Controller.
> 
> One day in the radar room two controllers were working air traffic in adjacent air space. Controller 1 is very busy when he is contacted via recorded land line by Controller 2. Controller 2 is requesting an early decent of an inbound jumbo jet to a specific altitude in the airspace of Controller 1. As Controller 1 is communicating at that moment with a departing pilot he turns to Controller 2 and gives a thumbs down. Controller 1 assumes that Controller 2 understands and Controller 2 assumes he has approval and that Controller 1 will now take steps to protect/avoid Controller 2's jumbo jet.
> 
> ...



  I can see how that could happen though. 


My parents moved from England to Canada. Shortly after they were arranging to meet with friends for a day trip and my father said "I'll knock you up in the morning". From the looks of horror they realized that the meaning was somewhat different in North America!


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## dougp26364 (May 6, 2009)

The term Brits use for cigarette's has an entirely different meaning in the U.S.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 6, 2009)

dougp26364 said:


> The term Brits use for cigarette's has an entirely different meaning in the U.S.



Two peoples, separated by a common language.


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## M. Henley (May 6, 2009)

*Hubble Telescope*

Remember the Hubble telescope?
 



JeffW said:


> How about the issue with a Mars explorer a few years ago - some of the calculations were done in US units, others in metric.  Needless to say, not a big surprise that it crashed into the planet.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (May 6, 2009)

JeffW said:


> How about the issue with a Mars explorer a few years ago - some of the calculations were done in US units, others in metric.  Needless to say, not a big surprise that it crashed into the planet.





M. Henley said:


> Remember the Hubble telescope?





T_R_Oglodyte said:


> Two peoples, separated by a common language.



Two peoples, separated by different units of measurements (even though we use British units and the Brits don't!)


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## Don (May 7, 2009)

I'm reminded of a story that shows the importance of a properly placed comma.
A trucker was getting ready to start on his next run, but didn't want to leave his very sick wife.
"Give me the places where you will be staying each night and I'll send a telegram if I need you to come home," she said.
Two days later, she sent the telegram, "Not getting any better, come home."
When the trucker received it, he was wondering why the delivery person had a slight smile on his face.  The telegram read, "Not getting any, better come home."


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