The voice on the other end of the speaker said “Welcome to——–.  Today’s flavor is Kick-ass Squirrel”.  After he finished, I calmly gave my order and as we were driving around the corner of the building, Doug asked, “did he just say kick-ass squirrel?”.   The marquee for the restaurant came into view as we rounded the corner – Flavor of the Day – Kit Kat Swirl.  Needless to say, we both broke down in uncontrollable laughter.  If only the guy at the window understood why these two old people were laughing hysterically when we drove up.  Not like I could tell him of course.  He was all of 16 and taking his job very seriously.  How could I explain to him that he needed to communicate his message more clearly?

To be honest, I had heard some garbled words that sounded like kick-ass something, but I immediately wrote it off as not important and proceeded to communicate my need.  I don’t know if you deal with this kind of thing on a daily basis, but I have an example when it comes to teaching.  Kindergarten.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a 5 year old come up to me, excitedly tell me SOMETHING and wait for my appropriate response.  After I ask them to repeat it, sometimes more than once, and I still can’t get it, I smile and say something like “Wow!” or “Nice!”, hoping I’ve somehow responded in a way that doesn’t hurt the child’s feelings.  Sometimes they have trouble thinking of a word, or two, or three, or mispronounce something completely.  Rather than take the time to figure out what they’ve really said so I can respond correctly (and partially because I have 20 other 5 year olds impatiently waiting by doing things they shouldn’t), I just rush through it  and get to the task at hand.  Getting things done that I need to get done.   I remember responding with “Cool!” one day when a little girl shared with me that her puppy had died.  No kidding.  There’s no way to get out of something like that.  These kids are just as serious as that 16 year old fast food worker, but I’m not doing my job if I don’t listen and communicate honestly back to them.

The thing with communication is that it’s a two way street.  One person communicates an idea, a feeling, information, a warning and someone has to LISTEN in order for it to be meaningful.  I’m afraid that in this day of technology, where someone can just scan an email or delete without reading that we’re forgetting how to communicate altogether.  I watched a TED talk today about how brains communicate with other brains and how different parts of the brain light up depending on how the communication is delivered.  Relating to one another through stories,  personal or otherwise lit up the most areas.  So maybe we need to start thinking about communication as a way to light up someone’s brain.  Slowing down and listening needs to be a goal in my life and my hope is that I was able to light up your brain a little bit by sharing this story today.  No more kick-ass squirrels!