Listen To Other People’s Views

I have this thing about the English language. I try my hardest to say what I mean. At times it means actually NOT saying something while I gather my thoughts to get it right. I have found that most people do not communicate this way. People seem to like using key phrases that they can utter at whim.

I have a suggestion. Take the time to actually listen to people. Also try to say what you want to say in your head and think about what it could mean. Could it be taken wrong.

A prime example of what I’m talking about would be the phrase “Can’t we just…” I have grown to dislike this phrase almost as much as “You shouldn’t feel that way.”

I get “Can’t we just…” statements at least four times a week. Here’s a typical scenario:

The company I work for has a standard template for our letterhead. Over the years (and before my time), people have moved away from using the template and merely formatting a blank with what they think are the margins.

I recently discovered this when someone sent me a letter for the president to sign. I pointed out that the letter would need to be two pages because when I copied and pasted the text into the approved template, it ran over by two paragraphs. The author of the letter didn’t like this.

I explained about the template, and how it works, further explaining that standard font size could be no smaller than 12 points. And this is when it happened.

“Can’t we just use 10 points for this letter? And can’t we just make the margins a little bigger?”

That really bugged me.

Saying “Can’t we just…” says to me, “I know what I’m doing, and you’re simply being difficult, so I have come up with a work-around so I can move on to other projects, and you’re making too big a deal out of this.”

Well, I did make a big deal. The letter needed to be edited down to size, fit in the template, at 12 point.

I urge you to use your best judgment when disagreeing with someone. I also urge you to discontinue all conversation that includes “can’t we just…” or something similar.

Just Cuz.

Learn A Non-Spoken Language

According to the World Federation for the Deaf, there are approximately 70 million deaf or partially deaf people in the World. This number astounded me.

While I was living in New York City, I had a few deaf friends and was amazed at the beauty of sign, so I started picking up a few key words and phrases (mostly naughty).

Whether or not you know someone who is hearing impaired – whether partially or fully – why not go to your local community college or Learning Annex, and take an American Sign Language course.

It’s a great way to broaden your language skills (albeit non-spoken), as well as meeting new people, and learning something new!

Just cuz…