Near-Misses

The other day I was sitting at a traffic intersection waiting for my light to turn green. Right before me, a driver turned to cross the road in front of me and came extremely close to colliding with another moving vehicle. There were no injuries. Neither drive slowed down or gave any indication of acknowledging what could have been literally a life-altering encounter. The near-miss took only seconds to occur, yet I can imagine it is something that must stayed with each drive for much if not the rest of day - if not longer. It certainly did with me. Watching this near-collision, it got me to thinking how often all of experience similar close calls when it comes to communicating with others.


By this, I am referring to those times when we avert arguments or hurt feelings by simply choosing to move forward without acknowledging what just happen. Example: being sarcastic or making a joke at another's expense. Chuckles might ensue but oft-times underneath comments of those kind are genuine "digs." I, myself, have done that as well as been on the receiving end of them. Many times  such interacting does not result in any kind of flare-up as all involved in the exchange, myself included, simply move forward much like those two drivers I saw. But when such an exchange does occur, is it really best to ignore what was just said?


.
We are sensitive creatures. None of us particularly enjoy being the brunt of critical comments regardless of whether they come in the form of jokes. While I do believe none of us should stop being critical if the situation calls for it, I do feel it important that we and those on the receiving end of whatever negative comment we might have be more up-front as to what is being or has just been said. Simply moving forward does little good to any of the principles involved. This does not necessarily mean an argument will be the automatic result. So long as the principles are respectful and up-front, then near-misses can actually become positive exchanges.