Miscommunication

Stories

Things you learn in life are very important. When you have an experience good or bad what you take away from it is what you learn. There are many different circumstances you can learn from. I think the most important way to learn is by communication and learning what can happen if you miscommunicate. There are many times in life miscommunication happens. It’s always good to ask if you’re not sure about what you think you’ve heard.
For example, I was working for my uncle and we miscommunicated. He called me when I was out doing something. So I honestly wasn’t paying full attention but THOUGHT I heard what he wanted me to do. The next day I was at his house working-he knows that I most enjoy working and learning with my hands- and I just knew he told me to clean up the back yard, but, honestly, I wasn’t sure what he meant. Did he want me to clean the pool area or the whole backyard. Not knowing-because I hadn’t really heard what he had said- I just cleaned the whole yard.
When he got home he saw I had cleaned it all. But then, to my horror, he told me that he only meant for me to clean around the pool. Although I was glad I had cleaned the entire yard, since it made him happy, I still ended up doing more work than I had to. Maybe if I’d known he only meant to clean around the pool I would have spent more time back there and if I had just asked or called I wouldn’t have done the extra work -and ended up with poison ivy on my legs.
From this, I learned its best to communicate with someone. If you don’t know what is expected of you, you may end up doing the most work. AND end up pleasing others but not yourself-hence the poison ivy!