“...that's not what I heard.”

 

An interesting thing happened this week. I noticed that one of my close friends was acting a bit stand-offish and it bothered me. When I asked her about it she was hesitant and then explained that she didn't like what I said about a mutual friend. I was very surprised because I thought I was always supportive and complimentary about that person. After a good discussion we both came to realize that what I said was not what she heard and we realized how important it is to be specific and clear when communicating with others.

It reminded me of the story about the man driving a big open truck with the back filled to overflowing with penguins. He was stopped by a policeman who explained that this was illegal. He said he wouldn't give the driver a ticket but that he needed to take the penguins to the zoo immediately. The driver thanked him and drove off.

Two days later the policeman was astonished to see the same man with the same truck and, once again, it was filled to over-flowing with penguins. The only difference was that all the little birds were sporting sun glasses ! The policeman stopped the truck and in an angry voice he told the driver that this time he was getting a ticket and that he'd better obey him or he'd get jail time too.

The driver looked very confused and in a trembling voice he said, “But, officer, I did do what you told me. First I took them to the zoo … and now we're going to the beach!!”