Miscommunication!

Miscommunication!

Miscommunication, not communicating or stating clearly what is expected of you or a situation. I’ve definitely had some experiences with this! Boy can things get complicated and frustrating when miscommunication occurs. I was bitterly reminded of this today as I had to do some last minute damage control.

I was recently sent a devotional, by Sally Cullbreth, containing the following…
“One of my favorite comedians, Gilda Radner, played a character who was highly opinionated and always wrong. Emily Litella was the character's name (watch old Saturday Night Live shows from the mid-1970's and you'll understand why I love her!). Any subject that Miss Litella zeroed in on for commentary was wrongly perceived, wrongly interpreted, and almost always formed around a minor point of confusion that made all the difference in the world.

She would rant and rave about "the eagles' rights amendment," "protection of endangered feces," or "violins on television," and, as her tirade went on and on, someone would firmly correct her. "That's the equal rights amendment." "That's protection of endangered species." "It's VIOLENCE on television, not VIOLINS." This sudden disclosure of correct information would silence her immediately. As she collected her papers and her composure, she would say with the same demure certainty with which she began, "Never mind."

I guess Emily Litella’s “never mind” is equivalent to my or todays “Whatever”. When I hear those words, “whatever”, I know someone is frustrated, probably wrong about something, and just wants to brush it off as no big deal when in reality, it may have been a really big deal to the person to whom the “whatever” was spat at. I’ve grown to detest the way in which people use the word “whatever”. The tone, the volume, and the flippant manner in which it is spoken tell me the speaker isn’t sorry, doesn’t truly acknowledge they are wrong, and absolutely doesn’t care enough to remedy the situation.

What a shame! So many hurts could be healed, wrongs could be righted, and broken hearts mended, if we would be willing to say…
“I didn’t understand I was wrong, I’m sorry, let’s try and figure out how this situation got out of hand, you are important to me!

Friends and relationships are to important and too precious to treat them with the careless “never minds” and “whatevers!”
"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34 NIV
Ok, there are those times when a “never mind” is a good thing to say…like when you ask your best friend what she weighs…then as soon as the words have left your mouth, you wish you hadn’t ask. Now that is a good time to laugh and say, “NEVER MIND”!