Misunderstood

Effective communication is key to any conversation. Whether at work, school, or with friends communication is always being used to converse between two people. Without correct understanding, it is hard to analyze a sentence and respond constructively.

It can be difficult to express what one is trying to say to another on any given day. Cultural differences play a large part in communication. This clip from you tube shows a funny, yet likely example of a call center employee trying to communicate to a customer. The employee is from India where a pencil eraser is called a "rubber". I assume the customer being helped on the line is from America, where a rubber is slang for a condom. The customer is very upset as she thinks the employee is telling her to buy condoms for her young son for school. The employee is not trying to suggest that the young boy has a need for contraceptives, but instead miss-communicates to the lady. It's because of their cultural differences, both parties are at a loss for words and find it hard to understand what the other is trying to say.

Our experience, age, sex, race, and culture all play apart in how we communicate, and how we understand someone else. We filter what we see and hear by these things and should realize that we need to focus more on how these effect other people. Doing this can help us see what other people are trying to say and from where he or she is coming from instead of focusing on what we want to say all of the time.