Not a Straight Line

It is a very easy walk from our living room to the kitchen. No detours. Nothing to have walk around or try to avoid. No hills to climb or valleys with which to contend. Straight shot. At times I ponder if only life were that easy. Is there any one who believes it is? More to the point of this blog, if only communication were that easy. But the reality is it is not. No way. Not even close. Communicating a message or feeling or information is never without obstacles. Further, rarely does it have a clear-cut beginning and/or end.  Two people talk, for example, yet even when the exchange is over there often remains a lingering aftermath for one or both of the parties.

The other day I watched a segment on CNN in which persons from opposing perspectives were interviewed. At one point, the exchange became heated and one of the guests told the other to "shut up!" From a communication perspective, one might say that one person telling the other to stop talking represented a straight line. Yes, it may have been rude, uncalled for, mean and impolite. Nevertheless, one telling the other to "shut up" was about as straight forward as a punch to the jaw.  In the case of what I witnessed on CNN, it was definitely not. Not surprisingly, the other guest erupted with anger and that led to an event more heated more exchange.  

The guest who did the telling had hoped to get the other to stop talking so he could make his comments uninterrupted. The opposite happened. He created a ton of obstacles that were not there before, thus pretty much eliminating any hope he had of communicating his message. Among other things, one mistake of his was thinking by circumventing any semblance of respect he would ensure a straight line for himself. Especially with that kind of thinking, it never will. People have feelings. People want to be heard, respected and have the opportunity to have impact or make a difference. Those needs ensure that communicating will never be a straight line. What happened on CNN highlighted that big-time.