You know that moment when your friend or loved one looks at you with a blank stare, as if you’re speaking complete gibberish? I guess we’ve all experienced it.
It’s the look that says: I think you’re trying to communicate with me, but I don’t have a clue what you’re going on about.
Even when two people speak the same language, they aren’t really communicating without a common frame of reference. Maybe it’s a generational gap or cultural differences. Sometimes it’s related to the region where we grew up. And the breakdown in communications over political dogma these days is enough to make some folks go crazy.
As I get older, I seem to be on both the giving and receiving end of that stare a lot. Unfortunately, it’s more often related to poor memory!
“Who was that woman?”
“What woman?”
“You know, that woman with the red hair… You were talking to her about that charity event the other day at that restaurant.”
“What woman was that? Which charity? At which restaurant?!”
“You know… The one whose husband, whatshisname, works at that place near the school…?”
(sigh)
Some people are simply great communicators — they always try to put ideas into a context familiar to their audience.
Of course, it’s fitting to pay tribute to accomplished orators on the day we honor Martin Luther King, Jr.
As for the rest of us, we could really use a thingamajig that can read our, you know, minds.
Speaking of Something 