When parents talk about having a child who is ill or struggling, nonparents often take the wrong message. They think, Thank God I was spared all that pain. If I can’t order up the precise specifications for my child, the condition in which he emerges, the choices he’ll make, if I can’t be assured that he’ll skirt the dangers that await him, maybe it’s better not to have children at all.
Those of us who know the airless terror of the 10 steps between the second you first glimpse your child’s surgeon through the glass doors and the moment he’s standing in front of you, delivering the verdict—we don’t think this way. Each time one of ours is ill or in pain, we think, Thank God I am here for him.
Isabel
You mean: “I think you should have known what I meant. Why didn’t you get it?”
On the other hand, some folks never get it, no matter what.
Tom
Tom – Too true.
But which form of communication (Costco imperative or British civil-servantese) actually works better? And by “works better” I mean willing compliance, not just obedience. Contrast this plea for funding:
“If you don’t mind, and if you think the content of this news letter is critical for the dignified living and survival of humanity and other species on earth, please forward it to your friends and spread the word. It’s time for humanity to come together as one family! You can subscribe to our news letter here http://www.countercurrents.org/news-letter/ ” with, say, the demands of some American alternative news media. I don’t have a sample,, but basically, they say, “If you don’t fund us, Trump will win!”
Jim T
Jim T – Good point. The communication target can be clarity or persuasion or both. Or other things, in other situations. Building the relationship with the customer (actual or intended) is also part of the calculation.