Okay, I just confessed to my fellow belles I can’t think of any miscommunication worth blogging about. Worth your reading time.
It’s not that I haven’t misqueued before. I just don’t remember any of them.
I do remember clear communications that I disagreed with and the “discussion” that followed.
However, one story comes to mind. The belles will cringe as they read this, but it makes a point.
A few weeks ago we were together at the Southern Independent Booksellers Association. We had a table on the showroom floor so we could visit with our southern bookseller friends.
Last year at this show I met a gregarious, nice sales rep from a NY publisher. He was there this year and when we saw each other, we picked up our previous conversation from a year ago within seconds.
Politics. Yikes.
He leans one way. I lean the other. Last fall we had a nice banter over our country’s political situation, but this year, when the conversation turned to politics, it flared quick and hot.
We were maintaining a respectable debate about the deficit and the current political landscape until I threw out a statistic. My political-opposite flared.
While I was saying “all.” He was saying “none.”
I amended my conviction to “half.” He stayed at “none.”
I had no other data to back up my conclusion from the statistic. I was not prepared with supporting facts and figures. Neither was he, but we both claimed superior knowledge. Then interruptions happened and the conversation stalled at it’s hottest.
I felt bad the entire weekend. I tried to catch his eye to say “Hey, it’s all cool,” but he remained busy with book buyers. We smiled and waved on a few occasions, but the lack of closure left me uneasy.
Why? Because neither one got a chance to really express our hearts. My guess is given the right circumstances, we’d realize we both feel the same way, want the same things for our country and our children. We just come at it from a different perspective.
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| With my niece. Cause she’s cute! |
I love to hear opposite views and opinions. It helps me understand people who are polar opposites of me and my believes. It may make me uncomfortable and I may never agree, but understanding sure goes a long way in my own peace of mind.
The rule of thumb is to never discuss religion and politics, right? But I think that’s unwise. We need to learn from one another. We need to know what “the other side” is thinking. We need to know why and what we believe.
Not talking about it only fuels ignorance. We have a lot of miscommunication going on in the world today.
Yelling and bullying doesn’t fix it. Not talking about it doesn’t fix it. Listening to one another does. Well, it’s a start anyway.
The miscommunication on my part standing by that table of books on the showroom floor was not being ready to defend my point. Was choosing a wrong topic for the wrong setting. Letting myself get drawn in. Did I really think I was going to win or change his mind?
So what about you? Ever get in those tough political or religion situations where something meant for good turned to bad?
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Rachel Hauck writes loves stories. Because she’s living the greatest one ever told. Beloved of Jesus. Her next book, Once Upon A Prince, releases May 2013. But for now, buy The Wedding Dress. Available at your favorite bookseller!
www.rachelhauck.com