"We have a flat tire!"

Sometimes people communicate a certain way without having a full awareness of all pertinent information. Actually, lately this seems to happen more often than "sometimes." This leads me to a recent visit to the nation's capital. Family outings are almost always fun. I say "almost" because sometimes they do not always go perfectly. Just this past week, an episode that occurred in Washington, D. C. when we took our granddaughter to the Natural History Museum of the Smithsonian Institute reinforced this reality. On the way home we had a flat tire due to my driving mishap in which I drove up onto a curb. As a result, we were forced to pull over into a bike lane where we had to wait for a car repair service to come by and change the badly damaged tire.

In the course of waiting, a great number of bike riders whizzed past us. Many of them gave us not-so-nice looks while a few screamed out obscenities at the fact we were parked in a lane specifically designated for them. What they failed to see is that we were in their space not by choice, but rather due to the damage to the car. Several times, my wife called out "We have a flat tire!" While I was not thrilled by the reactions of the bikers, I could understand their frustration. They could see we were parked where we were not supposed to be. That is all they knew. Consequently, they communicated what they did based on limited information.  

For communication to work as well as it can, a disclosure of all pertinent information is a major ingredient. Such a variable allows participants to properly express themselves in a way that most accurately reflects their views. Anything less than that comprises the validity of their message. While none of us always have access to literally all pertinent information, the more those involved in a communication exchange are able to be completely knowledgeable about a particular subject, issue or event, the closer their interaction have the opportunity to be to a completely forthcoming. The responsibility for achieving this falls on the shoulders on all who participate in a communication exchange.